The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League has been whittled down to its final four, and the line-up could hardly be more evocative. Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain against six-time winners Bayern Munich in one semi-final. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the other. Four clubs, two ties, and a single route to the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.
PSG and Bayern Meet Again on Europe’s Biggest Stage
The first leg at the Parc des Princes on April 28 is the latest chapter in one of the most frequently staged rivalries in the modern Champions League. PSG and Bayern have now met 15 times in European competition, with the Bavarians holding the edge overall at nine wins to six and a 21-16 advantage on aggregate goals. That history includes the 2020 final, won by Bayern through Kingsley Coman’s header, and stretches across a decade of near-annual encounters in the knockout and group phases.
This season’s earlier meeting came in the league phase, when Bayern travelled to Paris and won 2-1 thanks to a Luis Diaz double. PSG’s only home defeat in the competition this term has come against the same opponent they must now beat over two legs to defend their crown. The reigning champions reached the semi-finals after a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win over Liverpool in the quarter-finals, with Vitinha and the full front line firing. Bayern, by contrast, came through a 6-4 aggregate thriller against Real Madrid that hinged on a 4-3 second leg in Munich on April 15.
Kompany Suspended for the Paris Leg
Vincent Kompany will not be on the Bayern touchline at the Parc des Princes. The Belgian picked up his third yellow card of the European campaign during the quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, and the resulting suspension rules him out of the first leg. Assistant manager Michael Danks will take charge from the bench in Paris, with Kompany set to return for the second leg at the Allianz Arena on May 6.
The manager’s absence arrives with Bayern in arguably the strongest moment of their season. They wrapped up the Bundesliga title with four games to spare on April 19 after a 4-2 win over Stuttgart, and Harry Kane continues to post career-best numbers, reaching 50 goals across all competitions this season, including 12 in the Champions League. Only Kylian Mbappe, on 15, has scored more at Europe’s top table this term.
Arsenal and Atletico Promise a Stark Stylistic Contrast
The second tie gets under way on April 29 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, before moving to the Emirates on May 5. The two teams have already met this season and the memory is a painful one for Atletico. At the Emirates in October, Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners in the league phase, with Gabriel opening the scoring from a set-piece, Gabriel Martinelli adding a second, and Viktor Gyokeres finishing with a brace inside three minutes.
The gap between the two clubs across the league phase was significant. Arsenal topped the 36-team standings with eight wins from eight. Atletico finished 14th, needing a play-off against Club Brugge just to reach the round of sixteen. From there, Simeone’s side have recovered strongly, eliminating Tottenham 7-5 on aggregate before overcoming Barcelona 3-2 in an all-Spanish quarter-final. Atletico’s 2-0 win at Camp Nou in the first leg proved decisive despite a 2-1 home defeat in the return.
Arsenal’s passage has been smoother and almost suspiciously efficient. They edged past Sporting CP 1-0 on aggregate after a goalless second leg and arrive at the semi-finals as the only unbeaten side left in the competition, having scored 27 and conceded just five across 12 Champions League matches this season. This is also their second consecutive semi-final appearance, the first time Arsenal have reached back-to-back last-four stages in their history.
Two Paths Meeting in Budapest
For PSG, the objective is continental retention. For Bayern, it is the first Champions League title since 2020 and the chance to complete a domestic-European double under Kompany. For Arsenal, a first-ever European Cup would cap a season in which they have also been serious Premier League contenders. For Atletico, a first Champions League trophy would reward one of Simeone’s most turbulent campaigns, having won the Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona only to lose the final to Real Sociedad on penalties on April 18.
The second legs will be played on May 5 and 6, with the winners meeting at Budapest’s Puskas Arena on Saturday May 30, kick-off 18:00 CET. On paper, each tie carries the ingredients of a final in its own right. In practice, that is precisely why the final four stage tends to produce some of the Champions League’s defining nights. Whichever two sides emerge, the route to Budapest has already told us a great deal about the European season as a whole.
