Arsenal will have to beat the best team in Europe if they are to be the best team in Europe. It is Paris St-Germain, the holders, once more in the final of the Champions League. And deservedly so.

It was in Paris, 20 years ago, that Arsenal lost their only previous final in this competition – to Barcelona – and now they will have to overcome Paris to win it for the first time in Budapest on May 30. 

As was this semi-final – apart from the contrasting bit – as both PSG and Bayern Munich carried on from where they left off last week. Without the nine goals. Even if there were more shots.

In truth it did not quite hit the heights of the first leg, that would have been extremely difficult if not impossible. But if anything there was more to worry Arsenal and Mikel Arteta as PSG showed their other face – just as they had in knocking out Liverpool – as they defended ferociously to preserve their lead against Bayern’s onslaught.

And it was an onslaught. Except Bayern never, ever looked like winning. In fact all the big chances fell to PSG, who are scarily good on the break and should have won here in Bavaria.

In Khvicha Kvaratskhelia they have arguably the best player in the world at present and, maybe, the successor to his team-mate Ousmane Dembélé in winning the Ballon d’Or if PSG do retain this trophy.

The only downside for the winger is that his country, Georgia, did not qualify for the World Cup, so he is denied that stage. But there is not a more exciting, direct and hard-working player than him. Arsenal will have to deny him – and Dembélé (the pair again combined for PSG’s goal), Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola.

Harry Kane did score. But it was deep in injury time and it was too late as he swept the ball high into the net from just inside the penalty area for, remarkably, his 60th goal of the season for club and country.

The other side of the story is Bayern’s elimination and the denial of Kane, the former Tottenham Hotspur striker, of the chance to finally win the Champions League and the motivation of beating Arsenal, of all opponents, in doing so.

Until his strike it was a tough night for Kane, shackled by PSG’s combative centre-half Willian Pacho, in what has otherwise been a glorious season for him with Bayern.

Meanwhile, beyond the breathtaking talent, no team work harder than PSG, brilliantly marshalled by their captain Marquinhos. Arsenal centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães are outstanding, but so are PSG’s and they operate in a team who are far more open and attacking.

Arsenal have their work cut out. Arteta will have a plan and he will hope that their disciplined style and their own defensive resilience might be the kryptonite.

On the evidence of the semi-finals there will be only one winner. But logic does not always prevail. Even so, Arsenal will head to the final as the underdogs and might, actually, like it that way.

PSG also relish facing Premier League teams in knockout ties. Surely that run has to end?

They also relish this stage and their goal, the breathtaking construction of it, summed up what they are all about. As did the timing. There was no attempt to quieten the crowd (OK, that would have been impossible given the din from both sets of supporters), or draw the sting or play their way into this game.

No, they hit Bayern hard with Fabián Ruiz releasing Kvaratskhelia, who only had one thought: run hard, down the line, take on the defence. No checking back, no coming inside, no “horseshoe”. So, he pulled the ball back and Dembélé met it to finish unerringly.

Dream start for PSG!

Ousmane Dembélé strikes inside three minutes to extend PSG's aggregate lead 🔥

TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/05ia5SC8wK

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 6, 2026

They scored four goals between them in the first leg and, already, here was a fifth, with precisely 139 seconds having elapsed.

For Kvaratskhelia it was the seventh successive knockout game in this competition in which he has either scored or assisted. And no player has done that before. Not Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo.

By half-time Kane and Bayern were chasing after the Portuguese referee João Pinheiro claiming he should have sent off the already booked Nuno Mendes – he shouldn’t – and that they should have had a penalty for handball by João Neves. Again they shouldn’t.

Instead Bayern, including their sporting director Christoph Freund, continued to argue with the official not accepting the law, which states it is not handball if it comes from a team-mate’s clearance.

Yes, Jamal Musiala probably should have scored, but the best chances and the most dangerous situations continued to be created by PSG, with Bayern’s urgency descending into a sense of panic as they failed to make much headway.

It is never easy when you can be countered so quickly and so Kvaratskhelia and Doué provided a constant threat.

PSG’s control was remarkable, especially through Marquinhos and the metronomic Vitinha, who pops up in midfield to intercept danger and provide some of his own.

Tellingly, the noise from the Bayern fans began to subside. It did not disappear, but it was being drowned out from the PSG end, where they even sang La Marseillaise and found yet more pyrotechnics to set off.

Would there be any more fireworks on the pitch? Kane miscontrolled a pass but then did as Kane does and his second touch was deft before scoring with power. Was there hope for Bayern? It was simply too late. There was encouragement for Arsenal in PSG conceding. But there are precious few weaknesses.