PSG boss Luis Enrique took a dig at Ligue 1 critics after the French champions saw off Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate with a 2-1 home win on Wednesday (May 8) to reach the UEFA Champions League final.
Following a hard-fought 1-0 first-leg win at the Emirates last week, Enrique’s side were in no mood to fritter away their slender advantage at the Parc des Princes. Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring after 27 minutes before Achraf Hakimi’s 72nd-minute strike put Les Parisians 3-0 ahead on aggregate.
Although Bukayo Saka reduced arrears for the Gunners four minutes later, it was little too late as Enrique’s side reached their first Champions League final in five years.
It marked the Parisians’ fourth straight win over a Premier League this season. After beating 2023 champions Manchester City 4-2 at home in the league phase, the Ligue 1 winners beat Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties in the Round of 16.
Next, they beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate in the last eight despite a 3-2 second-leg defeat at Villa Park before thwarting the Gunners’ bid to return to the Champions League final after 19 years.
Following the win over Mikel Arteta’s side, Enrique said (as per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano):
Ligue 1 is often derided as the ‘League of Farmers,’ but the Parisians have seen off the current Premier League top-3 as well as seventh-placed Aston Villa to make a resounding statement of the French league’s quality.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice admitted his team’s lack of attacking output across both legs as a reason for their UEFA Champions League defeat to PSG. The Gunners were also kept out for large swathes by the brilliant Gianluigi Donnarumma.
While the Gunners’ wait for a first Champions League final continues, PSG are one win away from a league-Champions League double, as they take on Inter Milan next on May 31 in Munich.
Arsenal next take on Premier League champions Liverpool away in the league on Sunday (May 11). Meanwhile, PSG travel to Montpellier in Ligue 1 a day earlier, hoping to snap a two-game skid.
Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.
Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.
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