The Champions League semi-finals delivered some fantastic football this week as tournament favourites Barcelona traded blow for blow with Inter Milan, drawing 3-3 on an action-packed Wednesday in Catalonia. And, on Tuesday, in a game of the highest quality, Paris Saint-Germain took a one-goal lead away from Arsenal to take control of their tie.
The Catalans’ quadruple bid stayed on track but they were made to sweat for it by a team seriously out of form. Inter came into this game on a run of three losses without scoring a goal, but they cam out all guns firing and stunned the Catalan crowd in the very first minute. Wingback Denzil Dumfries beat the offside trap and when his cross was half cleared Marcus Thuram scored with a brilliant flick into the far corner.
Barca fought back with efforts from Yamine Lamal and Ferran Torres and an unsuccessful a penalty appeal when Frenkie de Jong was felled by Alessandro Bastoni. But then lightning struck twice and, on 20 minutes, Dumfries executed his own spectacular finish with an overhead kick to make it 2-0. This match was never going to be short on Champions League 2025 highlights and four minutes later Yamine Lamal halved the deficit, beating three Inter defenders before firing home from 15 yards. The 17 year old wonder nearly levelled just two minutes further on when he smashed an angled drive onto the crossbar.
The Catalans did get level before the break with another lovely goal. Pedri chipped a delightful ball up to the back post for Raphinha to divert back Torres and he made no mistake.
The second half had a gentler pace as Inter did a good job frustrating Barca and then, it happened again; Barca failed to clear a corner and Dumfries bundled the ball over the line for his second and I Nerazzurri’s third. But the Italians’ lead lasted just three minutes before Raphinha hit a wonder strike from 30 yards which ricocheted in off the crossbar and keeper Yann Sommer. And with the clock ticking down Yamal was inches away from winning the leg but his shot once again bounced back off the bar.
Inter have had a torrid few weeks with back-to-back losses in Serie A handing the advantage to Napoli in the race for the Scudetto, before AC Milan dumped them out of the Coppa Italia. But the Italians put in a fine performance to match the Catalans.
The Champions League 2025 betting odds here at SBOTOP backed Barca to win the tournament and they may well do…but they’ll have to work hard.
A tough gig in Paris awaits Arsenal
The Gunners’ clash with PSG kicked us off on Tuesday with an entertaining 100 minutes of top drawer football but it was tighter than many neutrals expected as a fourth minute strike from Ousmane Dembele was the only goal of the game. In a very evenly matched contest the Ligue 1 champions edged possession and the shot count by 11 to ten, though Arsenal had five shots on target to the Parisens’ four. It was a frustrating night for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners who now have a mountain to climb at the Parc des Princes.
Luis Enrique’s PSG made an electrifying start as Dembele set off a scintillating move which he finished in style. The Parisiens had put 23 passes together when Dembele drove forward into Arsenal territory before feeding Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who turned wingback Jurrien Timber inside out, returning the ball to the French star and he slotted calmly inside the far post. It was the style of football PSG have wowed us with throughout the knockout phase but the Gunners responded well, testing keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard both tried their luck.
Mikel Merino, who has operated as a makeshift striker for the Gunners in recent weeks thought he’d levelled but his header was ruled out by VAR in a marginal offside call. The Emirates fans were furious, howling at the referee who they thought had a poor game, but their evening could have been much worse had the visitors not passed up two glorious late opportunities as David Raya saved from both Marquinhos and Desire Doue. But Donnarumma was a busy boy too, keeping out efforts from Bukayo Saka and Martinelli again.
Arteta hasn’t given up, saying after the game, “We are going to have to do something special in Paris. We have to go to Paris and win the game. We are more than capable of doing that. It’s half time and we have a big chance to be in the final.” It is a tough challenge, but any PSG fans who think they have a foot in the final will do well to remember how the Gunners blew Real Madrid away to reach the semi-final.
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