By Acho Marcus Nkire
Paris welcomes a brother-in-elite, class and sensation, a fellow cosmopolitan beauty in London, for the return leg of the semi-final of the champions league. Paris Saint-Germain lead the tie by a single goal and at 8:00pm (west African time) all gaze will turn to the Parc des Princes with expectations from both sets of fans to get the job done in 90 or beyond.
Arsenal will be looking for a similar outcome to the one they achieved away at Real Madrid when the odds were stacked against them and the bookies showed no mercy. Despite taking a 3-goal lead to the Bernabeu, many non-arsenal supporters hoped a comeback was on the cards, only for the gunners to complete the double over the current European cup holders.
HOW IT COULD GO.
Unfortunately, this PSG side has shown mettle, grit and a silky football approach to show for their recent dominance. An upended version of what they used to be coliseum of capitulation, the parisiens are going for the treble having already secured the ligue 1 and Coupe de France trophies.
PSG are blood thirsty at the moment, beating the last four English sides they’ve faced in this year’s competition. However, they are not without flaws, Aston Villa in the second half at villa park exploited the weaknesses in defending transitions and overall midfield physicality.
HOPE FOR THE GUNNERS.
Having strong runners like Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers in the midfield caused the the French champions a new rhythm of danger to worry about.
Arsenal will be expecting the likes of Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly to have similar impacts as would PSG with Ousmane Dembele, a repeat or similar performance from the Paris dangerman would invoke a PTSD moment for the gunners and put them one foot out the door before half-time.
With the ever-revolving midfield trio of Jao Neves, Vitinha and fabian Ruiz, Mikel Arteta’s men would look to avoid a semblance of the opening 30 minutes the first time these two behemoths met, only then would they have a slim chance at the second time of asking.
