Towards the end of last season, Arsenal’s hopes of success hinged on their exciting Champions League campaign.
Mikel Arteta’s side managed to achieve a historic victory over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, two games that will live long in the memory for Arsenal fans.
However, their run was cut short in the next round at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, who eventually won their final against Inter Milan with some ease.
In truth, PSG were the best side in the competition, the Parisiens deserved to take the trophy back to France.
But after a recent rule change by UEFA, Arsenal might still feel incredibly hard done by, especially given that they beat PSG on xG over the two matches.
On aggregate:
Arsenal (5.11) 1-3 (3.08) PSG
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) May 7, 2025
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UEFA announce Champions League rule change that will frustrate Arsenal
When reflecting on the 2024/25 campaign, UEFA have decided to alter the Champions League rules for next season to give home advantage to the best teams in the League Phase of the tournament.
Last season, the clubs who finished in the top eight of the group or league phase were guaranteed to play the secondm match of their round of 16 tie at home.
Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
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However, from the quarter-final stage onwards, there was no preference either way, it was simply an open draw.
Therefore, PSG, who finished 15th in the league phase, enjoyed the second leg of their semi-final against Arsenal at home, who finished third.
However, from next season onwards, the order of the tie will be decided by who finished higher in the league phase — so Arsenal would have been at home for their second leg against PSG next season.
Did PSG have an unfair advantage over Arsenal?
Of course, some might read this change and ultimately believe that it makes little difference, taking the view that the best team should always win anyway.
But in a competition that is decided by such small margins, Arsenal have every right to be fuming that this rule wasn’t in place from the very beginning of this new format.
Arteta and his side would have surely felt a lot more confident playing at the Emirates Stadium when trying to book a place in the final, and UEFA have seemingly recognised last season’s set-up as somewhat unfair, hence the change.
PSG were brilliant against Arsenal, there’s no taking away from that.
PSG midfielder Joao Neves was confident that PSG were better than Arsenal at the time, and he’s probably right.
But had the ruling been different, and were Arsenal taking PSG back to the Emirates in the second leg, perhaps it would have been Arteta’s side facing Inter Milan in Munich.