Arsenal players were left in tears after Wednesday’s 2-1 semi-final loss at Paris St Germain knocked them out of the Champions League, manager Mikel Arteta said in a post-match press conference.

The North London side, who lost 1-0 at home in the first leg of the tie last week, are set to finish the season without a trophy, having lost the Premier League title race to Liverpool last month after exits from the FA Cup and the League Cup earlier this year.

Arsenal, who have won one FA Cup title and two Community Shields since Arteta took over in December 2019, are in a race to finish second in the English top-flight league for the third season in a row.

“Today I see how much they want it because they were in tears,” Arteta said.

“This squad, two years ago, nobody believed that we could even qualify for the Champions League, not even think that we could finish second and compete in the league.

“Perhaps the amount of points that we had in any other year, you are the champions. But the reality at the end is you need something to lose, and that trophy with all the work that we do and the disappointment is we don’t have them.”

Arteta’s men, who sit three points above third-placed Manchester City, visit Liverpool on Sunday.

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A day after Yann Sommer’s brilliant goalkeeping display helped Inter Milan reach the Champions League final at the expense of Barcelona, it was Gianluigi Donnarumma’s turn to shine as Paris St Germain booked their ticket for the showdown in Munich.

The towering Italy keeper kept Arsenal at bay almost single-handedly in the opening stages as the visitors sought to cancel out the 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

His instinctive save from Gabriel Martinelli’s close-range effort was superb but minutes later he surpassed that as he stretched his arm to somehow get a hand to Martin Odegaard’s fierce low shot that whizzed through a crowd of players.

“It was a beautiful match. My save today on Odegaard? It was very nice, the ball went between the legs of one of my teammates. I work a lot on low balls, but Mother Nature also had her say,” the 6-foot-6-inch Donnarumma said.

Had Arsenal scored then, the tie might have tipped their way, but goals by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi put PSG in command before Bukayo Saka, whom Donnarumma had earlier denied with a fingertip save, finally replied, albeit too late.

“When you look at the two games, who has been their best player on the pitch has been the goalkeeper. He’s made a difference for them in the tie,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters.

Donnarumma, who will play in his first Champions League final when PSG face Inter on May 31, was also an immovable barrier in the first leg in north London when he made stunning saves to protect PSG’s lead.

“He showed why he’s an elite goalkeeper; he made some incredible saves and kept them in the game,” Arsenal forward Mikel Merino said of the Italian’s heroics.

Arsenal midfielder Decan Rice was equally impressed.

“Over the two legs, we could have scored three or four goals but Donnarumma’s been unbelievable,” he said.

Donnarumma made five saves in total on Wednesday, but it was also his command of his penalty area as Arsenal went back to basics and resorted to long throw-ins or hoofs forward into a crowded area that allowed PSG to stay secure.

Asked afterwards about his performance, a modest Donnarumma preferred to pay respect to another member of the goalkeeper’s union. “Yesterday (Sommer) was very good, he made more saves than me. He played a fantastic match, it was a great game.”

-Reuters

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Inter Milan substitute Davide Frattesi struck an extra-time winner to send his side into the Champions League final following a barnstorming 4-3 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday after Francesco Acerbi had rescued them from the brink of elimination with a stunning equaliser deep in added time.

Frattesi’s goal secured Inter a rip-roaring 7-6 aggregate victory in a semi-final for the ages that finished up with the Italian side reaching the Munich final, where they will face either Paris St Germain or Arsenal later this month.

It was a tale of two halves as Inter dominated the first 45 minutes and opened a two-goal lead thanks to a Lautaro Martinez goal on the counter in the 21st minute before Hakan Calhanoglu extended the lead with a penalty right before the break.

However, Barca woke up in the second half with Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo netting within six minutes to level the scoring and, after Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer made a string of saves to keep the hosts alive, the Catalans thought they had scored the winner through Raphinha from close range in the 87th minute.

But as Inter made a desperate run for an equaliser, Denzel Dumfries found 37-year-old Acerbi inside the box, and he fired a first-time effort into the net to score his first European goal in his 20th season and take the game to extra time.

In the 99th minute, Marcus Thuram made a brilliant run from the right and played the ball into the area for Frattesi, who set himself before neatly guiding a curling shot into the bottom corner to send the delighted home fans into raptures.

-Reuters

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