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England great Gary Lineker has asserted that Arsenal and Barcelona will face each other in the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League final on May 31.
Earlier this week, Arsenal crashed to a 1-0 Champions League semi-final loss against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Emirates Stadium. The La Liga team, on the other hand, registered a 3-3 home stalemate against Inter Milan in their last-four first leg encounter.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker remarked (h/t Metro):
"I still fancy Barcelona [to progress], but the truth is it's impossible to predict because it'll be like Wednesday night because that's how Barca play home and away. They'll back themselves to outscore the opposition."
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Opining on Inter Milan's performance in the first leg, Lineker continued:
"Inter Milan will have to finish the chances that they get as they did generally. The [Marcus] Thuram finish was excellent, the second goal was really good as well as he [Denzel Dumfries] hooked it over his shoulder."
Lineker, who played for Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur, commented:
"[Barcelona vs PSG], I think that's what it'll be – not with any great confidence. I don't think Arsenal are completely out of it, but obviously it's a tough ask for them to go there to with a relatively young side... well, 'young side', look at Barcelona's."
Offering his prediction about the Champions League, Lineker added:
"Barcelona vs Inter could be anything, but I couldn't go against that Barca team. The way they play it's incredible. I'd like to see Arsenal vs Barca, that's what I'd like to see cause I'm a supporter of English football."
The Blaugrana will travel to Inter Milan for the semi-final second leg next Tuesday (May 6). Mikel Arteta's side will visit PSG and try to overturn their 1-0 deficit on Wednesday (May 7).
Paul Merson insists Arsenal were afraid in 1-0 Champions League defeat against PSG
In his Sky Sports column, Gunners legend Paul Merson offered his honest thoughts on his former club's recent 1-0 home loss to PSG. He wrote:
"I just thought they were nervous. PSG came out, got that early goal and they had them on the rack. It was like Arsenal were sort of scared, and I thought they thought, 'If we let in another goal here, we're out of the cup tie already. We're literally out of the cup tie'."
The Gunners relished 48% possession and recorded 10 shots in the clash against PSG, who registered 11 shots earlier this Tuesday (April 29).
The north London side will next host Bournemouth on Saturday (May 3).
