IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Picture : Fabian Ruiz scored his first ever Champions League goal !
Statistics on Champions’ League: Semi-finals, 2nd leg (May 7)
PSG vs Arsenal 2-1 (agg 3-1)
*PSG have reached the European Cup/Champions League final for the second time in their history (after 2020); the final of any major European competition for the 4th time (also Cup Winners’ Cup 1996 and 1997).
*Arsenal have been eliminated in each of their last 4 semi-finals in domestic and international competitions: their longest ever such streak in club history (after 2020-21 Europa League, 2021-22 and 2024-25 League Cup).
*PSG is the first team to eliminate 3 English rivals (Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal) to reach the European Cup/Champions League final.
*A curious coinсidence:
PSG were eliminated by Dortmund in the 2023/24 Champions League semi-finals, losing by 1 goal in both legs after beating Borussia Dortmund by 2 goals at home in the group stage earlier that season.
PSG eliminated Arsenal in the 2024/25 Champions League semi-finals, winning by 1 goal in both legs after being beaten by them by 2 goals away in the league stage this season.
*PSG became the second French team to beat Arsenal in a two-legged European Cup/Champions League tie, after Monaco in the 2014-15 Champions League round of 16.
*PSG became the third team to win both their first and second legs against an English club in the European Cup/Champions League semi-finals, after Celtic (against Leeds in 1969-70) and Borussia Dortmund (against Manchester United in 1996-97).
*Luis Enrique has won as a coach all 5 of his ties against English clubs in the Champions League knockout stage. The previous 4 are:
with Barcelona vs Manchester City in the round of 16 in 2014-15,
with Barcelona vs Arsenal in the round of 16 in 2015-16,
with PSG vs Liverpool in the round of 16 in 2024-25,
with PSG vs Aston Villa in the quarter-finals in 2024-25.
*PSG became the third French club to win both their first and second legs in the European Cup/Champions League semi-finals, after Reims against Hibernian in 1956 and Marseille against Spartak Moscow in 1991.
*PSG became the first French club to score in both their first and second legs in the Champions League semi-finals since Monaco against Chelsea in 2003-04.
*PSG became the first French club to win 10 games in a single edition of any major European competition.
*Fabian Ruiz scored his first ever Champions League goal. He needed 46 matches for this: second-highest number of games among Spanish players in Champions League to do so, after Carles Puyol (58).
The next in this ranking is Rodri (44 games for scoring the first UCL goal).
*5 Spanish players have scored in the semi-finals of the Champions League this season (Fabian Ruiz joined Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Eric García, Dani Olmo who did it for Barcelona): a record for a nation in an edition at this stage of the competition.
*Vitinha missed the first penalty of his professional career (converted 12 out of 12 attempts at all levels before).
*Vitinha is the first PSG player to miss a penalty in the Champions League since Lionel Messi's miss (a save from Courtois) vs Real Madrid on 15 February 2022 (round of 16).
*Achraf Hakimi became the 3rd Moroccan goal scorer in the semi-finals of the Champions League after:
Medhi Benatia with Bayern against Barcelona on 12 May 2015,
Hakim Ziyech with Ajax against Tottenham on 8 May 2019.
*Hakimi has been directly involved in more Champions League goals (8) than any other defender in the competition this season (3 goals, 5 assists).
*Hakimi is the first defender to be involved in 8 goals in a Champions League season in the last 20 years.
*Ousmane Dembélé who provided an assist for Hakimi, has set a new PSG club record for the most goal involvements in a single Champions League season (12, including 8 goals, 4 assists), overtaking Kylian Mbappé (11 in 2020-21).
*Marquinhos set the new record for most games at the semi-final stage with French clubs in the European Cup/Champions League (7, all with PSG), surpassing Jean Tigana (6 for Bordeaux and Marseille) and Kylian Mbappé (6 for Monaco and PSG).
*Bukayo Saka became the second best Arsenal scorer in a single Champions League campaign (6 goals), behind only Thierry Henry (7 goals twice, in 2001-02 and 2002-03).
*The consolation goal vs PSG was Saka’s 10th Champions League goal in his 18th appearance in the competition, with only Harry Kane reaching 10 goals in fewer games (12) among English players.
*Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal) became youngest English player and youngest player for an English club (18 years 223 days) to start both legs of a Champions League semi-final.
In general, he is the 5th youngest player to do so.
*William Saliba has lost in all 4 of his starts at the Parc des Princes, each time with a different team:
with Nice against PSG in 2021,
with Marseille against PSG in 2022,
with France against Italy in 2024,
and now with Arsenal against PSG.