After a bitterly frustrating defeat at Parc des Princes, the Gunners will finish without a major title for the fifth season in a row
To borrow a line from Martin Odegaard's post-match interview at Parc des Princes, Arsenal "gave it a proper go" against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. They began the second leg very brightly and had anyone other than Gianluigi Donnarumma been standing in the PSG goal, maybe the Gunners would have turned this semi-final tie around.
"He has been the difference for them," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed on with some degree of justification. However, when the Spaniard then argued that there had been no stronger side in the competition than the Gunners, he sounded utterly delusional.
Arsenal had been good – but not good enough. And that's rather frustratingly becoming the story of the Arteta era at the Emirates. Hundreds of millions of pounds have been invested into the squad and yet the Gunners still look a little short on quality in a couple of key areas, most notably up front.
PSG, by contrast, are a team with very few flaws. Just like everyone else at the club, the players now appear to know exactly what they're doing under Luis Enrique and the Ligue 1 winners fully deserved to progress to the final, where they will meet another team with a very clear identity in Inter.
Below, GOAL picks out all of the winners and losers from PSG's 2-1 win over Arsenal, which saw them triumph 3-1 on aggregate.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Achraf Hakimi
Earlier this week, Trent Alexander-Arnold confirmed that he'll leave Liverpool at the end of the season. At this stage, the whole world knows that he's bound for Real Madrid, apparently because he wants to challenge for the Ballon d'Or.
The thing is, though, Alexander-Arnold isn't even the best right-back in the world – that particular title belongs to Achraf Hakimi, who, as he so thrillingly underlined at Parc des Princes, boasts the kind of all-round excellence that the England international still sorely lacks.
Hakimi was sensational against Arsenal. No player on the pitch won more tackles than the Moroccan, who also had more touches than any of his team-mates – underlining just how vitally important he is to PSG's play. This is a complete footballer capable of shutting down a dangerous winger like Gabriel Martinelli while also popping up inside the area to whip home a crucial goal in a Champions League semi-final.
Madrid have done very well to get Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer, but it remains a mystery as to why they let the far superior Hakimi leave for just €40 million (£34m/$45m) five years ago.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Nicolas Jover
Just before an Arsenal corner on Wednesday, the camera cut to Nicolas Jover. We know why, of course. Jover is the most famous set-piece coach in football. He's even got a mural near the Emirates dedicated to him.
The uncomfortable truth is, though, that Jover's level of fame is completely disproportionate to the efficacy of his work. In the Premier League alone, the likes of Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Everton are just as dangerous from set-pieces as Arsenal – if not more so.
Furthermore, Thomas Partey launched so many throw-ins into the PSG area at Parc des Princes – and to zero effect – that it looked like a serious strain for him to even raise his arms to applaud the visiting fans at full-time.
It shouldn't be overlooked either that Arsenal conceded the game's opening goal due to their failure to adequately deal with a free-kick delivery – just four days after Bournemouth beat them at the Emirates with a couple of set-pieces. In that context, the comparisons to Stoke City actually feel like an insult to Tony Pulis' former team!
The argument here is not that Jover is bad at his job; it's more that we should probably be seeing and hearing a little less about a supposed set-piece specialist that isn't actually making that much of a difference to Arsenal's results – at least not in a positive sense anyway.
Getty Images SportWINNER: The PSG project
Vitinha felt privileged to play in the same PSG side as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. The Portuguese even said he can't wait to tell his grandchildren about it one day. However, Vitinha also tellingly admitted that he prefers the new PSG project – the one that doesn't feature any global superstars – and it's very easy to understand why.
For more than a decade of their ownership, the Qatari Sports Investment (QSI) group were obsessed with signing high-profile players, believing that was the only way to win the Champions League. The recruitment strategy didn't work, though. PSG repeatedly came up short in Europe – and often in the most devastating of circumstances.
Of course, last year's semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund (a team that they really should have beaten) also hit hard – as did losing the club's all-time leading, Kylian Mbappe, to Real Madrid. However, the French forward's defection actually proved a blessing in disguise as his removal from the wage bill afforded Luis Campos greater wriggle room when it came to acquiring even more top young talent in the transfer market, including Joao Neves, Willian Pacho and Desire Doue. The brilliant Luis Enrique has taken care of the rest, turning PSG into a real team for arguably the first time since QSI took charge of the club in 2012.
As a result, there's a very real chance that Vitinha might end up telling the grandkids that while playing with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe was great, lining up alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia & Co. was so much better.
AFPWINNER: Gigi Donnarumma
Gigi Donnarumma has long had his doubters at Paris Saint-Germain. In an era in which goalkeepers are forced to effectively serve as sweepers, the Italian's ability with the ball at his feet has always come under intense scrutiny. There are even ongoing rumours that Luis Enrique is open to the idea of selling Donnarumma.
If the Spaniard doesn't think that the 26-year-old suits his style of play, that's fair enough. At the end of the day, though, a goalkeeper's primary purpose is not playing the ball out from the back – it's keeping it out of the back of the net.
In that particular job requirement, there is nobody better in the world right now than Donnarumma, who made one incredible point-blank range save from Gabriel Martinelli at Parc des Princes, and then two stunning stops from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
These interventions weren't just spectacular either; they were absolutely crucial. As Gianfranco Zola said on , "If you want me to analyse the two legs on the balance of play, I have to say that Arsenal are not an inferior team to PSG. The only real difference between the two teams was Donnarumma, that's it!"