Arteta’s side delivered a performance for the ages to knock out Real Madrid, while PSG held firm at Villa Park and Inter outlasted Bayern to set up a semi-final of contrasts Arsenal Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair as Arsenal win 2-1 in Madrid to knock the holders out of the Champions League Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: a brilliant performance from Arsenal at the Bernabéu, winning 2-1 in Madrid and 5-1 across the tie, they were close to perfection with Declan Rice probably the standout performer in a team of standout performers. Continue reading...

PSG player on her reinvention in midfield, Euro 2025 confidence and how she embraces her role-model status Sakina Karchaoui is one of the most popular players in the France team. Perhaps the most popular. But when she joins us at 9am at Clairefontaine, the national centre of French football, Les Bleues’ No 7 appears quite shy. Wearing a blue tracksuit emblazoned with the French rooster, she smiles for the first time when Kenza Dali teases her: “Interview for the Guardian … in English please, Saki!” Spring has finally sprung in the French capital and for the native of Salon-de-Provence, in southern France, the prospect of training in the sunshine is another reason to smile. “We are almost ready for the Euros,” Karchaoui says as she looks at the training ground below. “We work a lot tactically with the coach, we work technically, physically, all aspects of football. I think we can win many things together; we’ve got so much talent. And if everyone brings their own little madness, their own experience and their own qualities to the group, that’s what will make us win.” Continue reading...

‘The way Saka handled penalty miss was incredible’Arsenal set up PSG semi-final after 5-1 aggregate victory Mikel Arteta joked that he could have given Bukayo Saka a “clip round the ear” after his dinked penalty was saved by Thibaut Courtois, but the Arsenal manager described the winger as “incredible” for the way he recovered to score the goal that helped to send the Gunners into the Champions League semi-finals. Arteta described Arsenal’s 2-1 victory at the Bernabéu as probably the proudest moment in his career, and announced “the feeling we have is a reality” and that his team are “ready to compete against anybody” after going through 5-1 on aggregate. He also revealed that he called Pep Guardiola on the morning of the game to thank him for being an inspiration as a player and a coach and giving him the opportunity that led to him coaching here for the first time. Continue reading...

Aston Villa fall agonisingly short of reaching the Champions League semi-finals as a thrilling 3-2 second-leg victory for Unai Emery's side sees PSG hold on to win 5-4 on aggregate.

Nedum Onuoha analyses Aston Villa's second-half performance during their Champions League quarter-final second-leg against PSG.

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma makes three crucial saves to stop Aston Villa reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Creative licence which Luis Enrique has granted sets arguably the most watchable team in Europe apart Luis Enrique had one word to describe Gianluigi Donnarumma. “Sensationnel,” the Paris Saint-Germain manager said, briefly switching into French from his native Spanish; no translation required. Donnarumma was the difference for PSG against Aston Villa on Tuesday night, the goalkeeper making five saves in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park, three of them, well, sensational, as his team just about got the job done, losing 3-2 on the night having been 2-0 up but advancing 5-4 on aggregate. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon and Lars Sivertsen as Aston Villa go out swinging in the Champions League Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today; so close for Aston Villa. At 2-0 down on the night and 5-1 on aggregate it all looked over before they rallied thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa. Marcus Rashford played brilliantly and in the final 30 minutes the hosts had chances to take it to extra-time. Continue reading...

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique hailed his squad as the best in the world on Tuesday after they reached the Champions League semifinals with a 5-4 aggregate win over Aston Villa.

Aston Villa showed fight, but PSG have too much going for them and are as poised as anyone for Champions League greatness.

Aston Villa fell short against PSG - but Unai Emery's side showed they now belong in this elite company, writes Phil McNulty.

Unai Emery says he is "proud of everything" Aston Villa achieved during their run to the Champions League quarter-finals which ended in an agonising defeat by PSG.

The disappointment on show after a valiant quarter-final defeat shows just how far Unai Emery’s team have come It was the 57th minute when Unai Emery made a series of small circles with his hands as the pulses of everyone else in this stadium began to race that little bit quicker. Emery tapped his temples, reminding his Aston Villa players to stay focused, but, really, who was he kidding? Ezri Konsa had just side-footed a shot in off a post to earn Villa the lead on the night and, with the help of a tail wind from the Holte End, this stadium felt liftoff. And not for the first time. The noise was so loud and the atmosphere so fervent that it seemed worth checking on the foundations of this grand old ground. Villa won the match and, though they lost the tie, this was a night they will always remember. It is also an evening when, once they have fully digested the drama of rousing from 5-1 down on aggregate, they will surely reflect on the strides they have made, particularly under Emery. Villa inadvertently did so with an amusing faux pas in the moments before kick-off: someone presumably pressed the wrong button as the Europa and Conference League walk-on music boomed instead of the operatic Champions League anthem as the players lined up on the pitch. Continue reading...