Ousmane Dembele has given Paris St Germain an important advantage in the Champions League. The Frenchman scored the only goal in PSG's 1-0 win in the first leg of the semi-final against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Dembele has now made 45 goals in 45 games this season. And his recent important goal helped PSG become a strong candidate for the Champions League title.
However, Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos both missed clear chances to score the second goal in the last 5 minutes of the match. Therefore, the "Gunners" still have a chance to come back in the second leg.
Mikel Merino's goal in the second half was disallowed for offside. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma also made important saves to reject the efforts of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
Although PSG had the advantage, their failure to score a second goal means that the return match was still very unpredictable.
Merino has done well in his role as a striker for Arsenal after Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were injured for the rest of the season. But Thomas Partey's suspension forced Merino to return to the midfield position when Trossard played highest up the attack. Merino's most impressive moment was when he forced Donnarumma to make an excellent save early in the second half.
Meanwhile, Dembele scored excellently with a tricky shot. It is not too much to say that Dembele is one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. Dembele's 25th goal is the most for a player in Europe's top five leagues in all competitions in 2025.
The decision not to pursue an Arsenal striker last summer or more strongly in January this year - when Ollie Watkins' offer was rejected by Aston Villa - could be seen as an explanation for why they cannot compete with Liverpool for the Premier League title.
They are 90 minutes away from facing a similar controversy in the European arena.
It could be blamed on injuries or decisions in the process of building the squad last summer (or both), but Arsenal's lack of a plan to rotate the game has been exposed by PSG.
While the visitors brought on Barcola and Goncalo Ramos, the Gunners had just four academy graduates on the bench. Admittedly, among them is Ethan Nwaneri, an 18-year-old player who is enjoying a breakthrough season. However, besides that, there is Raheem Sterling, a player loaned to Chelsea who is no different from a disaster.
Kieran Tierney will also join Celtic on a free transfer this summer. Oleksandr Zinchenko could leave the Emirates after this season.
Mikel Arteta chose to bring Ben White on for Timber until he brought Nwaneri on in injury time. Arsenal still have a chance to turn things around, but they lack breakthrough options.
Partey will return in the return match after serving his suspension. Partey's presence is certainly very important as Arsenal allow Nuno Mendes to easily pass the ball to Dembele to open the score in the midfield area.
"In the first 10 to 15 minutes, we couldn't control the ball as we wanted. We were very ineffective in getting the ball back. That caused us some problems.
After that, I think the team played better and better, we had really clear chances. PSG are effective in front of goal and their goalkeepers have made the difference. It was a disappointment not to have a draw, at least for that. Now we have to go to Paris and win, which we are completely capable of doing.
If you want to reach the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We will have to do something special in Paris to be there in the final match" - Arteta said after the loss to PSG.
