After four thrilling, action-packed semifinal encounters, we’ve now got the teams that will be traveling to Munich on the last day of May to face each other in the grand final played at the Allianz Arena, the home of Bayern München.
It was a long, long road as the tournament’s new format featured more teams than ever before and also meant that all teams were to play eight, instead of the usual six matches before even determining whether or not they’ll make it to the knock-out stage. The four that made it to the semifinal gave it everything on the pitch last week, and it was more of the same across past two days as there was still all to play for.
Only two, however, could make it out.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Arsenal, PSG win 3-2 on aggregate
Last week we’ve read quite a bit about the fascinating tactical matchup between Arteta’s Arsenal and Enrique’s PSG, with the French side leaving with the advantage thanks to a nice finish from Ousmane Dembélé and some critical saves made by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
This week, the two sides just picked up where they left off. Another brilliant duel which saw both team get a handful of chances due to their attacking approach and sheer talent at their disposal.
For Arsenal, it was their academy’s gem, Bukayo Saka, pulling all the strings and carrying the biggest threat. The winger scored the Gunners’ only goal of the tie, but was a constant danger for the PSG defence, recording 2 key passes and creating a big chance. He had a huge opportunity to get another goal, but… you already guess who showed up.
Yes, Gigio Donnarumma again. PSG’s goalkeeper accumulated 2.36 prevented goals across the two legs and, especially according to Mikel Arteta, was the only difference in the tie.
‘Games like these are decided in the boxes’, Arteta said, and looking across both legs, he might just be right. That being said, Arsenal’s goalkeeper David Raya wasn’t too bad himself, as he stopped a penalty and ended the last night’s match as the highest-rated player. PSG, at the end of the day, just had too much for the Gunners with their current form, and Arsenal’s absences certainly playing an important part in how the tied itself turned out. Les Parisiens have now ‘one-upped’ their last season’s campaign and will play in the final for the second time, the only other one being in 2020 when they lost to Bayern München.
Inter Milan 4:3 (a.e.t.) FC Barcelona, Inter win 7-6 on aggregate
Anything we could type about the clash Inter and Barcelona had across the two legs couldn’t do justice to the spectacle they provided us with. A gift that never stopped giving exciting moments, comebacks on top of comebacks, individual duels for the ages and just constant, non-stop, up and down action.
Twenty minutes into the tie, Inter were up by two. On the 45 minute mark, Barça were level. Nerazzurri took the lead again, only for Barça to undo it in the very next play. At the half point of the tie, after 90 minutes in Barcelona, the scores were level. Most of the footballing world expected a different, more controlled approach in the return leg, and somewhat cautious football as both teams were 90 minutes away from a final and with more than a solid shot at making it through.
Luckily for the spectators, Barça and Inter wanted none of that. Again, when Inter went to the break with a two-goal advantage, it all seemed like a one-way street, but Barcelona’s relentless attacks got the game to another tie after only 15 minutes of action in the second half. Barça continued with the pressure, Inter sat back to wait for their opportunities on the break, both came agonizingly close to scoring the third, but none managed to do it. Then, the man himself appeared. The record-maker, Raphinha, showed up again on a Champions League night. His first effort, left-footed, was parried by Sommer back onto his path for another, this one right-footed, that ended up in the back of the net, slotting in just next to the far post. With that goal, the Brazilian midfielder equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most goal involvements (G+A) in a single UCL campaign with 21.
That’s all folks, many have definitely thought at that moment. Then, with less than two minutes of the five-minute stoppage time remaining, the most unlikely goalscorer of them all appeared. Francesco Acerbi chose quite a good moment to score his first goal of the season, sticking his foot just in front of Araújo’s and turning the ball into the net. A finish that not even the game’s best strikers would be ashamed of.
What ensued was 30 more minutes of drama, of up and down action and excitement on both sides. Barça tried and tried, but couldn’t get another one past Yann Sommer who put on a goalkeeping clinic on the night.
Then, just before the clock hit 100 minutes of game-time, Inter stung again. This time it was Frattesi, the man who’d already scored a game-winner against Bayern. Giuseppe Meazza exploded in excitement, and Frattesi and the Inter faithful gave us some memorable celebration scenes that will be remembered for a while.
For the next 20 minutes, Barcelona threw all they had at Inter, but Simone Inzaghi‘s men kept their discipline, their organization and their focus and managed to withstand the pressure and book their place in the final for the second time in three years. In 2023 they fell short against Manchester City. 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of Inter’s last triumph in the Champions League, courtesy of José Mourinho’s famous treble-winning side.