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In which David Squires continues his noble quest to prove once and for all that laughter is the best medicine
PSG team news: Dembele on the bench
Ousmane Dembele, who scored the only goal last week, isn’t fit enough to start after sustaining a knock in that game. Bradley Barcola replaces him; that’s the only change from the first leg at the Emirates.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Barcola, Doue, Kvaratskhelia.
Substitutes: Safonov, Tenas, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, Lee, L Hernandez, Mayulu, Zaire-Emery, Lucas Beraldo, Tape, Mbaye.
Arsenal team news: Partey returns
The Arsenal team is as expected, with a single change from the first leg. Thomas Partey returns from suspension in place of Leandro Trossard, so Mikel Merino will move back into attack.
Jurrien Timber is fit to play at right-back after missing the weekend defeat to Bournemouth. Jorginho and Riccardo Calafiori return to the bench.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Jorginho, Sterling, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri.
“Well,” says James Humphries in response to my question about catenaccio,
“obviously Inter shot their bolt.”
“Equally, PSG-Barca might have been the final of the century,” adds James Humphries.
That reminds me of one of my favourite David Lacey lines (and by heaven it’s a long list). When Sheffield United played Wimbledon in October 1990, at a time when both teams were hellbent on discovering grass in the sky, Lacey began his match report with this line:
After Wimbledon had won 2-1 at Bramall Lane on Saturday, it was generally agreed that this had been the game of the century. But opinion differed on which century.
“Of course, the important matters are now done – Motherwell are safe for their 41st consecutive year in the top flight – but I think Inter might be the team best placed to do PSG,” says James Humphries. “Solid defenders, happy to sit back and let the opposition wear themselves out, then strike on the break? That’s catenaccio, baby! This falls down a bit for Arsenal-Inter, admittedly.”
How do we reconcile the concept of catenaccio with that orgy of goals last night?
Read Barney Ronay preview
Can Mikel Arteta learn and adapt in the space of a week from the way PSG pinned Arsenal’s full-backs deep in their own half and emptied the midfield, playing with Arsenal’s set way of pressing to create the kind of space that led to the only goal? Arteta is not a gambler, or an advocate of creative freedom. But sometimes this amounts to pragmatism, too.
Last season’s quarter-final defeat by Bayern Munich boiled down to small details, finding a single late goal, adapting in the moment. This is what is required in Paris, as much as the result even, if only for evidence that this team can still develop and improve.
Preamble
Hello, good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League semi-final second leg between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. The bad news for these teams is that they have precisely 0.00% chance of serving up a feast to compare with Inter v Barcelona last night.
The good news is that they don’t have to: last night was 50 shades of WTF, a match we’ll talk about forever, but all that really matters to PSG and Arsenal is reaching the final and keeping alive the chance to become European champions for the first time. Arsenal won’t care if they win 1-0 after extra time and then 1-0 on penalties.
PSG start as pretty strong favourites after their cool-headed victory at the Emirates. Before the first leg, Mikel Arteta asked the supporters to bring their boots; yesterday Declan Rice reminded his teammates to bring their balls, the bigger the better.
Arsenal have never won a European tie after losing the first leg at home, although they were effectively half a goal behind when they won away to Juventus in 1980. The winners will play Inter in Munich on 31 May. It’ll probably take the performance of a lifetime for Arsenal to get there. But as last night reminded us, in the knockout stage of the Champions League, pretty much anything is possible.
Kick off 8pm BST.
