PSG beat Arsenal to zoom into Champions League final

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will have a second chance to win the Champions League as they reached the final 3-1 on aggregate over Arsenal with a 2-1 home victory on Wednesday.

Fabián Ruiz fired the opener in the 27th minute at the Parc des Princes.

Achraf Hakimi curled the second in the 72nd for the French champions, who three minutes earlier had failed to convert a penalty from Vitinha.

Arsenal got a lifeline from Bukayo Saka in the 76th, but it was too little to late for the Gunners who had wasted a trio of top chances in the opening minutes.

In the Munich final on May 31, PSG will face three-time champions Inter Milan, who won a semi-final tie for the ages 7-6 on aggregate against Barcelona the previous day.

Qatari-owned PSG has long aspired to win the European elite event for the first time. They reached the final in 2020, losing to Bayern Munich, and were also stopped in several semi-finals.

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A treble is possible for PSG who have already clinched the Ligue 1 title and are in the Coupe de France final under coach Luis Enrique, who already has a treble from 2015 while in charge of Barca.

The success run, which saw Arsenal as their third English scalp after Liverpool and Aston Villa, comes amid a new strategic approach, a year after the departure of talisman Kylian Mbappé, and previous exits of superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Arsenal meanwhile failed to make the final for the second time 19 years after their debut there in 2006, when they lost against Barca.

They impressively beat title holders and record winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, but now see their season unravel late, having also lost the Premier League title race against Liverpool. (dpa/NAN)