LONDON: Paris Saint-Germain seized the advantage in their Champions League semifinal against Arsenal as Ousmane Dembele sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg on Tuesday.
Dembele struck in the opening minutes at the Emirates Stadium and Luis Enrique’s side held on to the lead with a composed display that kept Arsenal at bay.
PSG will head into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on May 7 as favorites to reach the final against Barcelona or Inter Milan as they look to win the tournament for the first time.
But the French champions should take nothing for granted given their history of epic European collapses.
Arsenal’s first defeat in 18 home European matches was a painful blow to their own bid to win a first Champions League crown.
Mikel Arteta had labelled Arsenal’s run to the semifinals a “beautiful story.”
The last chapter might make for frustrating reading, but they aren’t dead and buried just yet.
The Gunners had beaten holders Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to reach their first Champions League semifinal since losing to Manchester United in 2009.
They could not replicate the swaggering display that blew Madrid away 3-0 in the first leg, despite a frenzied atmosphere as kick-off approached.
When Arsenal’s players gathered for a pre-match huddle in the tunnel, Declan Rice implored his team-mates to give everything as he roared “if we don’t have the ball we die.”
A video message from Arteta played on the Emirates screens struck a similarly rousing chord as the Spaniard urged fans to raise the roof.
But PSG had already eliminated Premier League champions Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, after coming back from two goals down to beat Manchester City in the league phase.
Arsenal were the one English side they had failed to conquer, losing 2-0 in north London in October.
However, PSG were without the influential Dembele for disciplinary reasons on that occasion and Luis Enrique insisted his side were “more complete” seven months on.
Dembele took just four minutes to prove the point as the France star started and finished a ruthless raid.
Taking possession in the center circle, Dembele worked the ball out to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and he drove at Jurrien Timber with intent.
Dembele had carried on his run into the Arsenal area and Kvaratskhelia’s perfectly weighted pass picked him out for a clinical finish that went in off the far post.
Having seized the momentum, PSG went for the kill and Marquinhos rose to meet Achraf Hakimi’s cross with a header that was just too close to Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
Kvaratskhelia had a strong penalty appeal waved away when Timber appeared to halt the forward’s burst into area with an arm around his chest.
Kvaratskhelia was undeterred, forcing Raya to save after attacking Timber again.
Dembele was proving equally hard for Arsenal to handle, his clever run and pass reaching Desire Doue for a low strike that Raya saved at full stretch.
Arsenal had been out-gunned but they should have equalized just before half-time when Myles Lewis-Skelly’s sublime pass found Gabriel Martinelli, whose shot was superbly saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Arsenal thought they had drawn level two minutes into the second half when Mikel Merino headed home from Rice’s free-kick, yet their celebrations were premature as VAR disallowed the goal for offside against the Spain midfielder.
Arteta’s men had the momentum and Leandro Trossard was inches away from equalising when Rice’s pass sent him bursting into the PSG area for a shot that Donnarumma brilliantly tipped away.
Feeling the shift in the balance of power, PSG looked to take the sting out of the game by playing at a slower pace.
The tactic almost worked to perfection when Bradley Barcola sauntered through, but with just Raya to beat he dragged his shot wide of the far post.
It was a woeful miss, leaving Luis Enrique holding his head in disbelief.
The PSG coach was in the exact same stunned pose moments later when Goncalo Ramos fired against the bar from close-range.
Dembele sinks Arsenal as PSG seize edge in Champions League semifinal
https://arab.news/gqq7d
Dembele sinks Arsenal as PSG seize edge in Champions League semifinal
- Arsenal’s first defeat in 18 home European matches was a painful blow to their own bid to win a first Champions League crown
Djokovic’s new approach heading into the Australian Open: ‘24 is not a bad number’
- Djokovic is starting a third season in pursuit a 25th Grand Slam singles title
- Djokovic last won a major title at the 2023 US Open
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic can still crack a joke when discussing the Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner rivalry that for two years has prevented him from becoming the most decorated tennis player ever.
“I lost three out of four Slams against either Sinner or Alcaraz,” in 2025, he said Saturday, on the eve of the Australian Open.
“We don’t need to praise them too much,” he added, smiling. “They have been praised enough! We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces of the men’s tennis at the moment.”
Djokovic is starting a third season in pursuit a 25th Grand Slam singles title, and has refined his approach for the Australian Open.
He withdrew from his only scheduled tuneup tournament, knowing he’s lacking “a little bit of juice in my legs” to compete with two young stars at end of the majors and that he has to stay as pain-free as possible.
Djokovic worked out how to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the established rivalry before he turned it into the Big Three and then surpassed them both.
A winner of 24 major championships — a record for the Open era and tied with Margaret Court for the most in the history of tennis — the 38-year-old Djokovic is doing everything to keep himself “in the mix.”
Djokovic last won a major title at the 2023 US Open. Sinner and Alcaraz have split the eight since then. Sinner has won the last two Australian titles. Alcaraz is in Australia determined to add the title at Melbourne Park to complete a career Grand Slam.
Despite being hampered by injuries, Djokovic reached the semifinals at all four majors last year. A torn hamstring forced him to quit his Australian Open semifinal, after he’d ousted Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.
By reminding himself that “24 is also not a bad number,” Djokovic said he’s taking the “now-or-never type of mentality” out of his every appearance at a major because it’s not allowing him to excel at his best.
“Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else. That’s a fact,” Djokovic said, “but that doesn’t mean that nobody else has a chance.
“So I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.”
The 10-time Australian Open champion starts Monday in a night match on Rod Laver Arena against No. 71-ranked Pedro Martinez of Spain. Seeded fourth, he’s in the same half of the draw as Sinner. That means they can only meet in the semifinals here.
Fitness
Djokovic hasn’t played an official tournament since November.
“Obviously took more time to rebuild my body, because I understand that in the last couple of years, that’s what changed the most for me — takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover,” he said. “I had a little setback that prevented me to compete at Adelaide tournament ... but it’s been going on very well so far here.”
He said there’s “something here and there” every day in terms of aches and pains, “but generally I feel good and look forward to competing.”
PTPA
Djokovic cut ties earlier this month with the Professional Tennis Players Association, a group he co-founded, saying “my values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization.”
Djokovic and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil launched the PTPA in 2020, aiming to offer representation for players who are independent contractors in a largely individual sport.
“It was a tough call for me to exit the PTPA, but I had to do that, because I felt like my name was ... overused,” he said. “I felt like people, whenever they think about PTPA, they think it’s my organization, which is a wrong idea from the very beginning.”
He said he’s still supporting the concept.
“I am still wishing them all the best, because I think that there is room and there is a need for a 100 percent players-only representation organization existing in our ecosystem,” he said.
