After playing each other in the league phase, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal meet again in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

In the league phase, Arsenal excelled, sweeping aside Sporting Lisbon (1-5), Dinamo Zagreb (3-0), and AS Monaco (3-0) to accumulate 19 points from eight games and finish third. They also defeated the Parisians 2-0, aiding direct qualification to the Last 16. There, they dismantled PSV Eindhoven, who had eliminated Juventus (1-7, 2-2), and then knocked out Real Madrid in the quarter-finals (3-0, 1-2). So far, only Inter Milan has beaten the Gunners in the competition this season (1-0).

The Parisians' league phase was less smooth. After losses to Atlético de Madrid (1-2), Bayern Munich (1-0), and Arsenal, the Rouge-et-Bleu recovered with wins against Salzburg (0-3), Stuttgart (1-4), and notably Manchester City (4-2). In the play-offs, they comfortably won the all-French tie against Brest (0-3, 7-0) before eliminating the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties. Another English team, Aston Villa, was defeated to secure a semi-final spot for the second consecutive year (3-1, 3-2).

THE KEY STATS