Dembélé boost for PSG ahead of Arsenal’s CL test

PARIS (AP):

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN striker Ousmane Dembélé has recovered from a slight hamstring problem and will be in the squad taking on Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal today.

Coach Luis Enrique said Dembélé, who scored the winner in PSG’s 1-0 win in London last week, has been training with his teammates for two days.

“I have him at my disposal tomorrow,” Enrique said yesterday.

Dembélé was injured during the first leg and rested over the weekend when PSG lost to Strasbourg 2-1 in Ligue 1. Enrique heavily rotated his squad with the match against the Gunners in mind.

Dembélé’s goal against Arsenal was his eighth in nine Champions League appearances since the start of the year.

PSG defender Achraf Hakimi said he believes Dembélé has recovered well.

“He really wants to play,” Hakimi said. “Ousmane is a different kind of player. He makes you want to go and watch the game in the stadium, he can change the course of a match at any moment, he’s a genius with the ball. We’re delighted to have him back.”

According to UEFA statistics, PSG have won 18 of the 19 ties in which they won a first leg away, while Arsenal have never overturned a home first-leg defeat in European competition, losing all five ties. Enrique, however, isn’t counting on history ahead of the match at the Parc des Princes.

“We’re bound to suffer because our opponents don’t have a favourable result,” Enrique told reporters. “We need to match our performance as closely as possible in the first leg to win the return leg and stay true to our ideas.”

Both teams are looking for a first Champions League title, and second final. PSG lost to Borussia Dortmund at this stage last year. The French side lost to Bayern Munich in their only Champions League final in 2020, while Arsenal were runners-up to Barcelona in 2006.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his team will do most of its talking when the whistle blows today.

“We are here to make history, we have a big opportunity tomorrow,” Arteta said yesterday at a Paris news conference.

Arsenal have won their last four away matches in the Champions League, including a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the quarterfinals.

“It’s Madrid against all the odds because obviously they were talking about all the comebacks and the history and what they did,” he said. “We proved something very different to what they expected and tomorrow we want to do the same.”