Champions League semi-finals return with Arsenal-Atleti on Tuesday and Bayern-PSG on Wednesday
The Champions League semi-finals return on Tuesday and Wednesday for second legs that, between them, carry a 1-1 draw and a 5-4 reset. Budapest is still up for grabs for all four sides.
Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid is up first. Bayern vs PSG is the closer.
Tuesday: Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid at the Emirates
The first leg at the Metropolitano on April 29 finished 1-1, and on a different night it would have finished 1-2 to Arsenal. Viktor Gyokeres was brought down before half-time and converted the spot-kick. Julian Alvarez scored from twelve yards in the second half to level. With thirteen minutes left, Ebere Eze went down inside the box and the referee initially pointed to the spot. VAR overturned it.
That last decision is the one that will hang over Tuesday. Arsenal had the better chances in Madrid and felt they had done enough to come home with a lead. Instead they come back to north London level, and Atleti come to north London with an away record that has been the foundation of their season.
Mikel Arteta's biggest call is the team news. The Premier League has been the priority for Arsenal in April while they chase down Manchester City, and a few of his front-line names have been carrying knocks. This week the priority flips, and a fully fit Arsenal in this fixture is a different animal.
Diego Simeone's job is the one he has been doing for more than a decade. Slow Arsenal down. Get to half-time level. Take it to the closing twenty minutes and trust that someone in front of the goal will steal it.
Wednesday: Bayern Munich vs PSG at the Allianz
The first leg in Paris was the highest-scoring semi-final in Champions League history. PSG took a 5-2 lead inside the hour, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele both scoring twice and Joao Neves adding the third in between. Bayern then scored two in three minutes through Dayot Upamecano and Luis Diaz to finish 5-4 down with everything still to play for.
Vincent Kompany's side now go home to a stadium where they have won every Champions League match this season and lost only one of their last twenty-nine in the competition. The Bundesliga title is already in the cabinet, and the focus is on a single tie that is still very much alive.
Luis Enrique's challenge is the opposite of the first leg. In Paris he had an open game and exploited it. In Munich Bayern will go from minute one, and PSG will need to hold the ball, slow the rhythm, and back themselves to score one more away goal that puts the tie out of reach.
A single PSG goal at the Allianz means Bayern need to score five. That is not the kind of comeback Bayern do. But the Allianz being the Allianz, and Harry Kane being Harry Kane, nobody in Munich is willing to write it off.
What is at stake
The winners meet at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30. PSG, defending champions, are 90 minutes away from a chance at back-to-back. Arsenal have not been in a final since Arsene Wenger took them to Paris in 2006. Bayern have not won the Champions League since 2020. Atletico have never won it.
Of the four, PSG remain the favourite. But of the four, Atletico and Bayern have the home leg in front of them, and history says the home second leg matters in this competition. Tuesday and Wednesday are the two best nights of the football year.
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