PSG deserve Champions League favourites tag as Arsenal face daunting comeback task | OneFootball

Luis Enrique’s side showed their quality and composure in semi-final first-leg win to silence the Emirates

Fast start: Ousmane Dembele scored PSG’s winning goal against Arsenal after only four minutes at the Emirates

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After 25 minutes of this game, Paris Saint-Germain looked every inch like European champions.

Ousmane Dembele's brilliant finish in the fourth minute settled a 1-0 win over Arsenal, and was followed by a spell of dominance in which PSG threatened to overwhelm Mikel Arteta's side and demonstrated why many consider them the finest team in Europe.

The question ahead of the decider in Paris is which side can consistently hit top gear after an even second half, in which neither was at their very best.

If Arsenal can raise their game as they did against Real Madrid in the last round, they will be a threat next Wednesday. But PSG's ceiling is higher, underlined by an outstanding start to the match.

Luis Enrique's side had enjoyed 75 per cent of possession by around the 20-minute mark, with the match being played entirely on their terms.

The technical quality of Enrique's players is obviously first-class but it was their confidence and composure which particularly stood out, as they looked entirely unfazed by an Emirates which had surely never been louder at kick-off.

The winning goal felt like the result of both PSG's individual brilliance and a smart game-plan from Enrique.

Arsenal were invited to press high but left-back Nuno Mendes sprang the trap, fizzing a pass into Dembele who had dropped from centre-forward into the centre circle.

With the space around him - perhaps a consequence of the absence of the suspended Thomas Partey - Dembele drove forward and found Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who ran at Jurrien Timber.

Dembele met the Georgian's bobbly return pass with a first-time finish with his left foot, which went in off the far post.

It was an ominous start for Arsenal, who were soon pegged back in their own half, struggling to contain the visitors and lacking the out ball which Merino has offered during his recent run up front.

Leandro Trossard, who played through the middle, was finding it harder to make inroads against PSG's imposing back two.

At the other end, Kvaratskhelia was especially menacing for the visitors, unnerving Timber and drawing a succession of fouls from the full-back, who was soon booked.

To their credit, Arsenal came back into the game from the midpoint in the first half, forcing PSG to go more direct and beginning to turn over the ball in the middle of the park.

They were predictably threatening at set-pieces but PSG were indebted to Donnarumma for saves from Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard either side of half-time after slick Arsenal moves. The Italian's palm to keep out Trossard's effort was particularly strong.

Merino, who reprised his usual role in midfield to replace Partey, also had a header from Declan Rice's free-kick chalked off at the start of the second half following a smart but risky set-piece routine, which involved every attacking player running back from an advance position just before the kick was taken.

There was, though, just so much to admire about PSG beyond Donnarumma's shot-stopping; from the metronomic Vitinha to Achraf Hakimi's remarkable athleticism, to Dembele's willingness to drop deep and link the play.

PSG should have added a second goal when Bradley Barcola burst through late on but the substitute dragged his shot beyond David Raya's far post.

It would have been hard to imagine Arsenal responding from 2-0 down in the decider but, as it is, the tie is alive and they will cross the Channel with belief.

If PSG play as they did in the second half of their quarter-final win over Aston Villa, Arsenal can still flip this semi-final on its head. If, though, Enrique's side can replicate their start at the Emirates for a longer period, Arsenal will find replicating the success of their women's side to be an enormous challenge.

The general consensus before Arsenal's quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid was that Arteta's side were about to face the most likely winners of the competition. PSG suggested in north London that they, in fact, now deserve to be thought of in those terms.