The Parisians lead the tie by a singular goal following Ousmane Dembele’s fine strike after just four minutes had been played at Emirates Stadium. In terms of building momentum for the second leg, it could not have gone much worse as both teams lost 2-1 in the league this past Saturday, but its fair to say under very different circumstances.
While a heavily-rotated PSG were beaten by Champions League challengers Strasbourg away from Paris, the Gunners controversially lost to Bournemouth at home with Mikel Arteta making just two starting XI changes. One of those was Bukayo Saka being brought back in while the other saw Jurrien Timber replaced by Ben White.
football.london understands the Dutchmen’s absence from the squad was due to a knock suffered in the first leg, but it is not though to be serious. Timber had also been captured in training earlier this week. Arteta however, is concerned he may remain absent.
“At the moment, no [not confident he will return against PSG], because he wasn’t able to play here and we play in four days,” he admitted in a press conference.
There is also slight worry surrounding club captain Martin Odegaard after he was subbed off in the late stages moments on from being kicked, but Arteta is hopeful he has not suffered any major issue.
I haven’t had a chance yet to speak to the doctor giving me an update on that so I don’t know,” he added on Odegaard. “But he did speak in the mixed zone, which is usually a good sign.” PSG were also dealt a double fitness worry with both Lucas Hernandez and Lee Kang-in forced off at half time.
The latter’s potential issue appears more serious as RMC Sport revealed he was finding it difficult to run after a strong challenge, while Hernandez seemingly struggled to recover from a collision with Joao Neves early on.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes and Marquinhos were all rested this past weekend but Dembele and Presnel Kimpembe were enforced squad absentees. The latter is expected to miss the second leg while Dembele is a huge doubt after suffering a hamstring issue, as the club confirmed in medical update on Friday.
“Victim of bone edema in the 2nd metatarsal of his [Kimpembe’s] right foot, will remain at rest for the next few weeks.
Ousmane Dembele has strained his right hamstring. His condition is progressing well. A further assessment will be carried out shortly.” There is also some Arsenal stars facing late fitness tests with Arteta hinting one of Kai Havertz, Jorginho or Riccardo Calafiori could return.
“I wouldn’t rule all of them out [of PSG second leg]. Let’s see in the next few days how I feel they react,” he said on Friday. “Unsurprisingly, none of the trio featured against Bournemouth and it is likely to be Calafiori that is the player most that may return given the fact only recently was it made clear the other two could play again this season.
Three Arsenal players that will not be available for the remaining games however, is Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu. The trio have all undergone surgery with Gabriel likely to return in pre-season, Jesus expected back in the Autumn and Tomiyasu just hoping to play again before the end of the 2025.
Arsenal face PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on April 29 and fans can watch it free with an Amazon Prime subscription or by signing up for a 30-day free trial.
