The identity of the two Champions League finalists will be decided this week as Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, and PSG battle it out for a place in the Budapest showdown .
Arsenal host Atletico Madrid at the Emirates on Tuesday with the tie finely poised at 1-1, before Bayern Munich lock horns with defending champions PSG, who carry a narrow 5-4 lead into the return leg in Germany.
Read on for the best of the potential stats.
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Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid
- Arsenal can reach their first Champions League final in 20 years (2006) as they bid to go 14 games unbeaten in the competition for the first time ever.
- Viktor Gyokeres can become just the third player to score in both legs of a Champions League semi-final for a Premier League team, after Sadio Mane (Liverpool) and Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City).
- Atletico Madrid can reach the Champions League final for the third time in the last 13 years; only Real Madrid have more appearances in that time (6).
Arsenal and Atletico Madrid shared a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital, with Julian Alvarez converting from the spot to cancel out Viktor Gyokeres’ earlier penalty, leaving the tie finely balanced ahead of the second-leg at the Emirates.
Gyokeres’ first-leg strike means he could become just the third player to score in both legs of a Champions League semi-final for a Premier League club, following Sadio Mane (Liverpool) and Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City).
Arsenal are aiming to reach their first Champions League final since 2006. Should they get there, it would mark the longest gap between finals (20 years) since Atletico, who went 40 years between 1974 and 2014.
Mikel Arteta’s side remain unbeaten in this season’s competition, recording 10 wins and three draws from 13 matches, including five victories and one draw at home. One more game without defeat would set a new club record of 14 unbeaten in a single Champions League campaign.
The Gunners can draw on an impressive eight game unbeaten run (W7 D1) against Spanish opposition in the Champions League. Having already beaten Atletico 4-0 at the Emirates earlier in the competition, Arteta could join Carlo Ancelotti and Maurizio Sarri as the only managers to remain unbeaten in their first three UCL meetings with Diego Simeone.
Atletico, meanwhile, are targeting a third Champions League final appearance in the last 13 years – a tally that would only be bettered by Real Madrid in that period. Simeone himself could reach a third final, which would place him behind only Sir Alex Ferguson (Man Utd) and Marcello Lippi (Juventus) for most finals reached with a single club (4).
However, Atletico’s recent record in England is poor, with just one win in their last seven away Champions League matches, losing the other six, including each of their last four. They will look to Julian Alvarez for inspiration; he has been directly involved in 14 goals (10 goals, four assists) in the competition this season. One more would see him draw level with Harry Kane and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on 15, while two more would match current leader Kylian Mbappe on 16.
READ: Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid: predictions, stats, tips & odds
Bayern Munich vs PSG
- Both PSG (43 goals) and Bayern Munich (42) can break Barcelona’s all-time European Cup record of 45 goals in a single season, set back in 1999-00.
- Harry Kane (13) needs two more goals to equal Robert Lewandowski’s (2019-20) club record of 15 goals in a single Champions League season.
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could become the first player to score or assist in seven consecutive Champions League knockout matches (in one season).
PSG beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in a true Champions League classic last week in the highest scoring semi-final match in the competition since 1960 – and we’re all hoping for more of the same in Germany on Wednesday night. The record for the highest scoring aggregate semi-final ever in any major European competition is 16 goals, so the second-leg needs eight goals to topple that.
Speaking of goals, PSG (43 goals) and Bayern (42) are within touching distance of the all-time record for most goals in a single European Cup campaign, which has been held by Barcelona (45) since 1999-2000 with 45.
Bayern are targeting a 12th appearance in the final, which would place them outright second only to Real Madrid’s tally of 18. Vincent Kompany’s team have been formidable at home in Europe this season, winning all six of their Champions League matches, with their only defeats this term coming away to Arsenal and PSG.
Harry Kane, with 13 goals, is chasing Kylian Mbappe (15) in the race for the Golden Boot and is just two shy of Robert Lewandowski’s Bayern record of 15 goals in a single Champions League campaign. The England captain has scored in each of his last six matches in the competition, which is a record streak for an English player.
PSG take a narrow one-goal lead into the second leg and will be wary of becoming only the second team to lose a knockout tie after scoring five goals in a leg, after Manchester City in 2016-17.
Luis Enrique’s side are looking to become the first reigning champions to reach consecutive finals since Real Madrid achieved the feat in 2016/17 and 2017/18. They are also aiming to make history as the first French club to reach three Champions League finals – theyare currently level on two appearances with Marseille and Reims.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been directly involved in 15 goals in this season’s competition, with his total of 10 goals surpassed only by Kane and Mbappe. The Georgian winger is now aiming to make history by becoming the first player to register a goal or assist in seven consecutive knockout appearances in a single Champions League campaign.
