Last night, thanks to an early and lone goal by Ousmane Dembélé, PSG took a giant step forward by claiming victory at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg against Arsenal, in a Champions League semifinal match. The team led by Luis Enrique once again showed very positive signs during their visit to England, and there's a striking stat that backs their favorability to reach the final in Munich.

The Historic Feats of Ajax and Tottenham

Since the European Cup format was changed and renamed the Champions League in 1992, there have been a total of 64 first-leg matches played in the semifinal stage. Remarkably, only two teams have gone on to reach the final after losing the first leg at home. That is exactly what Arsenal will need to do next Tuesday at the Parc des Princes.

The first was Ajax in the 1995/1996 season, when they lost their first leg of the semifinal at home to the surprising Panathinaikos, 0–1. However, Ajax turned the tie around in Greece and reached a final they would later lose in a penalty shootout against Juventus. The other team to do it was Tottenham in 2019, after losing the first leg in London against Ajax. But they also managed a comeback in Amsterdam, in one of the most legendary matches in recent Champions League history. Still, just like Ajax in 1996, they ended up losing the final, this time to Liverpool.

“This Isn’t Over”

PSG left the Emirates Stadium with the same scoreline that Ajax and Tottenham overcame in 1996 and 2019, respectively. In fact, although Donnarumma made some truly impressive saves, people in the PSG locker room are surely still thinking about the golden opportunity Barcola missed in the final stretch of the match — a chance that could have sealed the tie ahead of Arsenal’s visit to the Parc des Princes.

That’s why Luis Enrique warned in the post-match press conference that there is still a lot of work to do and that feeling overconfident just because they’re playing at home would be a huge mistake. “This isn’t over. We need to focus on controlling the game and take advantage of our fans’ energy. We’ll be ready,” said the PSG coach after the game. The stats show that the team is getting closer to the final… but in Paris, they know that history is written one day at a time.