David Mosse
Soccer Analyst
And then there were four in this edition of the UEFA Champions League with the semifinals set to get underway this week. The competition began with 81 clubs from across the continent, but as has become commonplace in recent years, there is nary a Cinderella left at this stage.
The increasingly top-heavy nature of European football means no one is surprised that four clubs with the pedigree of Arsenal, PSG, Barcelona and Inter are the last ones standing. All are in the top two in their domestic leagues, with the French side having already secured the Ligue 1 crown.
But none of this star-studded quartet has lifted the trophy in the last nine years. Two have never won it, while the other two are desperate to end uncomfortable droughts. It should make for a dramatic conclusion to this Champions League campaign with the legacies of players, managers and even executives potentially defined by what occurs over the next few weeks.
Here’s what it would mean for each of the remaining teams to navigate the final two steps of the journey and get their hands on the ultimate prize.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal have a strong claim to being the biggest club yet to win the European Cup. They came agonizingly close in 2006, surrendering a late lead to Barcelona in the final, and the other missed opportunity of the Wenger-era was a quarterfinal exit to Chelsea in the Invincibles season (2004), when all that would’ve stood in their way was Monaco and Porto.
The Gunners are back in the semis for the first time since 2009, when they fell to Cristiano Ronaldo-led Manchester United. Mikel Arteta was toiling in the Everton midfield in those days as part of a playing career that saw him capture just one European trophy, the Intertoto Cup, won, ironically enough, with Arsenal’s upcoming opponents PSG.
Today, Arteta is widely regarded as one of the top managers in Europe, but an FA Cup title in his first season represents a somewhat disappointing return for all his good work at Arsenal. A Champions League triumph would elevate him to elite status, finally escaping the shadow of his mentor Pep Guardiola, while also underlining Spain’s remarkable influence on the game.
Arteta would be the 5th different Spanish boss to lift the trophy in the Champions League-era, joining a list that includes Vicente Del Bosque, Rafa Benitez, Guardiola and his semifinal counterpart Luis Enrique. He can also strike a blow for his side in the burgeoning rivalry between Basque (Arteta, Xabi Alonso, Unai Emery, Andoni Iraola) and Catalan managers (Guardiola, Xavi).
But beyond burnishing his own credentials, Arteta stands on the precipice of filling the one major void in Arsenal’s history. Winning the Champions League would make the Gunners truly a part of Europe’s aristocracy, and as an added bonus, it would leave Tottenham as the only member of England’s traditional Big Six yet to experience the same glory.
Paris Saint-Germain
Dreams of an Invincibles Ligue 1 campaign ended with Friday’s defeat to Nice. But PSG’s primary focus this season, and indeed every season since the Qatar Investment Authority purchased the club, is on capturing the Champions League crown. PSG are bidding to become the second French side to lift the trophy, joining archrivals Marseille who accomplished the feat in 1993.
For all the talk of their underachievement in this competition, the capital club is involved in the semis for the fourth time in the last six seasons. They reached the final in 2020 with a squad led by Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Lisbon bubble, and Mbappe was still around for last season’s semifinal elimination at the hands of Dortmund.
Lionel Messi also passed through the club in recent years, yet it’s a post-Galacticos iteration of PSG that looks capable of achieving the ultimate breakthrough. Much of the credit belongs to Sporting Director Luis Campos, the man behind astute signings like Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves who comprise arguably the best midfield in Europe.
But Luis Enrique deserves plenty of praise as well for PSG’s scintillating play. The former Barcelona boss, who guided the Catalan giants to a treble in 2015, can become the 7th manager to win the European Cup with two different clubs, joining such legends as Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Jupp Heynckes, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel.
Enrique has succeeded this season in coaxing the absolute best out of Ousmane Dembele, a player who had so often flattered to deceive. The 27-year-old boasts 32 goals in all competitions, including 24 since the turn of the year. A Champions League triumph could propel him to the Ballon d’Or, an award only five Frenchmen have won before (Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema).
FC Barcelona
After winning the Champions League in 2015, their 4th European crown in 10 seasons, Barcelona fans never imagined they might need to wait another decade to scale the same heights. But the current side appears ready to end that drought, as evidenced by this past weekend’s heart-stopping Copa Del Rey final victory over Real Madrid.
Back in 2015, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar spearheaded Barcelona’s devastating attack, while this season’s frontline is evoking memories of that trio. Raphinha is up to 30 goals and 21 assists in all competitions. Robert Lewandowski, currently sidelined through injury, has found the back of the net 40 times. And 17-year-old Lamine Yamal continues to amaze.
Yamal has followed up his Euro 2024 exploits by registering 14 goals and 21 assists this season to emerge as a legitimate Ballon d’Or contender. A Champions League triumph would virtually ensure that a Blaugrana player takes home the award, with Raphinha and Yamal leading the queue, while Lewandowski and the sensational Pedri figure to garner votes as well.
Orchestrating this impressive campaign is Hansi Flick who, in just his 3rd season as a top-flight manager, can join Pep Guardiola as the only men to win two different trebles. Flick previously accomplished the feat in 2020 with a Bayern Munich side led by Lewandowski. But maybe the biggest winner, should Barcelona reign supreme, will be club president Joan laporta.
His methods may be questioned given that they seem to rest on economic levers and suspect accounting practices. But Laporta has somehow steered Barcelona successfully through these first post-Messi years. Most of his big signings have hit (Raphinha, Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Dani Olmo), while La Masia products like Gavi, Pedri, Yamal and Pau Cubarsi have filled in the other blanks to help the Catalan giants prove there is life after Lionel.
Inter Milan
For those who followed European football from the 1980’s through much of the 2000’s, it seems almost unthinkable that Italian clubs could go 15 years without a Champions League crown. But that’s how long it’s been since José Mourinho guided Inter Milan to glory, with the Nerazzurri prevailing over Bayern Munich in the 2010 final in Madrid.
Inter came close to bringing the trophy back to the Peninsula two years ago when they gave Manchester City all they could handle in a 1-0 final defeat. And after disposing of Bayern in the quarterfinals this season, they are once again looking like strong contenders thanks to a talented midfield and the prolific strike pairing of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.
Simone Inzaghi is also seeking to lead the Nerazzurri to a second straight Serie A title, but it’s a Champions League triumph that would elevate him beyond many of his countrymen. Italy may not produce the players they once did but they are still fiercely proud of their managers, as evidenced by the fact that an Italian has won Serie A in each of the past 14 seasons, with the aforementioned Mourinho the last foreigner to claim the Scudetto back in 2010.
Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo are, however, the only Italian bosses to win the Champions League in the 21st century. Should Inter Milan lift the trophy this season, it would mean Inzaghi achieved something the likes of Roberto Mancini, Antonio Conte and Max Allegri never did, cementing his status as one of the finest Italian managers of his generation.
It would also prove that Serie A clubs can in fact compete with the Premier League and La Liga’s big two, despite all the financial disadvantages. Inter’s triumphant 2010 campaign included a semifinal victory over Barcelona, and the same opponent awaits this time around with a chance to restore Italian football to the pinnacle of the European game.
David Mosse is a researcher for FOX Sports and the co-host of “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast.”
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