IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Picture : Dembélé became the first player to score 25 goals in the first 4 months of a calendar year for a club from the top five European leagues in official competitions since Lionel Messi with Barcelona in 2019 (also 25).
Statistics on Champions’ League: Semi-finals, 1st leg (April 29)
*Four different nations are represented in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2017/18.
*No one of 4 Champions League semi-finalists (Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter, PSG) has won a European Cup in the previous 9 seasons.
This last happened in 2003-04 (Chelsea, Deportivo, Monaco, Porto).
*The Champions League semi-finals are played without the presence of either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich for just the second time in the last 15 years (also in 2018-19).
Arsenal vs PSG 0-1
*This is only the 4th Champions League semi-finals tie over the last 20 years between teams who at the time had never won the competition (including European Cup era), along with:
2006 - Arsenal vs Villarreal,
2020 - PSG vs RB Leipzig,
2021 - PSG vs Manchester City.
*This is the 3rd duel between Spanish coaches (Arteta vs Luis Enrique) in the European Cup semifinals, and the first with two non-Spanish clubs.
The previous two:
Del Bosque vs Rexach (Real Madrid vs Barcelona) in 2001-02 (Del Bosque finished the champion).
Luis Enrique vs Guardiola (Barcelona vs Bayern) in 2014-15 (Luis Enrique finished the champion).
*PSG have beaten Arsenal in a European competition for the very first time (after 3 draws and 2 losses in 5 previous games).
Before this game, Arsenal were the opponent that PSG have faced the most times in European competitions without ever winning.
*For the 3rd time, a French club won away in the Champions League semi-finals (excluding neutral venues), after:
Hibernian vs Reims 0-1 on 18 April 1956,
Spartak Moscow vs Marseille 1-3 on 10 April 1991.
*PSG have 9 wins in the Champions League this season, a new record for all French clubs in a Champions League campaign (surpassing 8 wins for Bordeaux in 2009-10 and 8 for PSG in 2019-20).
*PSG have scored 74 away goals in competitive competitions this season. This is a new club record (supassing 73 away goals in 2017-18).
*Arsenal ended their 8-game unbeaten run in the UCL.
*Arsenal have lost at home in European competitions for the first time in 4 years (0-1 against Olympiacos on 18 March 2021 in Europa League).
*Arsenal suffered their first defeat at home in the Champions League under Mikel Arteta (9 wins, 2 draws in previous 11 such games).
*PSG have fielded the same starting lineup in two consecutive competitive matches (also vs Nice last Friday) doing so for the first time since September 2023.
*Ousmane Dembélé’s goal became the earliest (after 3 minutes 15 seconds) conceded by Arsenal in the Champions League since another game vs PSG in September 2016 (Edinson Cavani’s goal).
*26 passes in the build-up to Dembélé’s goal is the most for any PSG goal in the Champions League history.
*Dembélé became the first player to score 25 goals in the first 4 months of a calendar year for a club from the top five European leagues in official competitions since Lionel Messi with Barcelona in 2019 (also 25).
*Dembélé tied Kylian Mbappé (2020-21) as a player with most goal involvements in a single Champions League campaign with PSG (11 for each).
*Dembélé scored his 8th UCL goal this season: joint-second rate for French players in a single campaign of the competition, behind only Karim Benzema (15 goals in 2021-22) and level with:
David Trezeguet in 2001-02,
Wissam Ben Yedder in 2017-18,
Kylian Mbappé in 2020-21 and 2023-24.
*Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG) has made 5 saves and kept a clean sheet in a Champions League game for the 2nd time in his career.
The first such case was in 2021 vs Manchester City (7 saves).
*Marquinhos has now joint-most games (6) at the semi-final stage with French clubs in the European Cup/Champions League, level with:
Jean Tigana (Bordeaux, Marseille),
Kylian Mbappé (Monaco, PSG).
*Two Arsenal players the youngest Englishmen and youngest Premier League players to appear in a Champions League semi-final:
Ethan Nwaneri (18 years 39 days),
Myles Lewis-Skelly (18 years 215 days).
*Only 2 teams so far have reached the UCL final after losing the first leg of their semi-final tie at home:
Ajax in 1995-96 (vs Panathinaikos 0-1 at home, then 3-0 win away),
Tottenham in 2018-19 (vs Ajax 0-1 at home, then 3-2 win away).
*PSG have advanced in 17 of 18 European knockout ties after winning the first leg away from home. They only failed against Manchester United in 2019 (winning 2-0 at Old Trafford and losing 1-3 in Paris in the second leg).
Arsenal have never advanced from a European knockout tie after losing the first leg at home. They tried 5 times and failed each time.