Arsenal and PSG are no strangers in the Champions League, having already faced off once in the competition this season in the league phase.
It was one of the opening matches of the new Champions League format, with Arsenal winning 2-0 against PSG at the Emirates Stadium.
Plenty of months have passed since, with the contexts very different at each club since that meeting in October.
While there will be some things Arsenal could learn about PSG from the clash, some players have turned their fortunes around completely.
Included in that is Gianluigi Donnarumma, the starting goalkeeper for the Parisian outfit, who has been through some ups and downs in their Champions League campaign.
French media slammed Gianluigi Donnarumma for PSG’s display against Arsenal
One player who came in for plenty of criticism during Arsenal’s win over PSG was Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The goalkeeper conceded twice on the evening, the first of which came as he failed to claim a cross, while the second was a near-post flick from a free-kick.
It wasn’t the finest evening for the Italian international, who came in for some criticism from the French media afterwards.
L’Equipe’s player ratings gave him a three out of ten rating, questioning his place in the team and his ability to play in the biggest games.
“Can Paris really have such high ambitions with a goalkeeper who makes so many mistakes in the Champions League?” the report retorted.
“Guilty of not going out within his six meters on the first goal (20th), the Italian was less at fault on the second but just as passive (35th).”
It was a clear criticism of the star’s performance, but one he has since redeemed himself with in the months that have followed.
Gianluigi Donnarumma’s heroics since Arsenal match
While Donnraumma struggled back in October, and even had his quality questioned, the goalkeeper has since been vital for PSG’s Champions League challenge.
The goalkeeper came up with some huge saves to deny Aston Villa from knocking them out in the quarter-finals.
L’Equipe u-turned on their claim about the star, giving him an eight out of ten rating from the second leg.
The report stated: “Where would Paris Saint-Germain be this morning without Gianluigi Donnarumma? Perhaps not in the Champions League semi-finals.
“Without him, this team could have fallen back into ways we no longer dared imagine and seen its dreams of greatness evaporate.
“In the narratives of this European campaign, we must remember his two monstrous saves at the height of the Midlands storm. And then, in time, the term heroic performance will not be overused to describe what we saw on the Villa Park pitch.”
It shows just how much has changed since, with Arsenal going from taking on a goalkeeper low on confidence, to one who clawed every shot away to keep PSG in the competition.
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