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PSG boss Luis Enrique took a dig at Ligue 1 critics after the French champions saw off Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate with a 2-1 home win on Wednesday (May 8) to reach the UEFA Champions League final.
Following a hard-fought 1-0 first-leg win at the Emirates last week, Enrique's side were in no mood to fritter away their slender advantage at the Parc des Princes. Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring after 27 minutes before Achraf Hakimi's 72nd-minute strike put Les Parisians 3-0 ahead on aggregate.
Although Bukayo Saka reduced arrears for the Gunners four minutes later, it was little too late as Enrique's side reached their first Champions League final in five years.
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It marked the Parisians' fourth straight win over a Premier League this season. After beating 2023 champions Manchester City 4-2 at home in the league phase, the Ligue 1 winners beat Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties in the Round of 16.
Next, they beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate in the last eight despite a 3-2 second-leg defeat at Villa Park before thwarting the Gunners' bid to return to the Champions League final after 19 years.
Following the win over Mikel Arteta's side, Enrique said (as per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano):
"Beating all 4 Premier League teams? Well ... the League of Farmers, know? We are the league of farmers."
Ligue 1 is often derided as the 'League of Farmers,' but the Parisians have seen off the current Premier League top-3 as well as seventh-placed Aston Villa to make a resounding statement of the French league's quality.
"We gave it everything; it wasn't meant to be" - Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice after loss to PSG
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice admitted his team's lack of attacking output across both legs as a reason for their UEFA Champions League defeat to PSG. The Gunners were also kept out for large swathes by the brilliant Gianluigi Donnarumma.
While the Gunners' wait for a first Champions League final continues, PSG are one win away from a league-Champions League double, as they take on Inter Milan next on May 31 in Munich.
"I thought we were dominant today," Rice told TNT Sports (via the BBC). "If we score one of them chances in the first 15-20 mins then the game chances. Two mistakes from us and two goals for them.
"We gave it everything; it wasn't meant to be. You're in, or you're out in this competition. Over the two legs, we could've scored more goals. but Donnarumma has been unbelievable, and it wasn't meant to be."
Arsenal next take on Premier League champions Liverpool away in the league on Sunday (May 11). Meanwhile, PSG travel to Montpellier in Ligue 1 a day earlier, hoping to snap a two-game skid.
