Schmeichel Takes Swipe at Arsenal's European Credentials as PSG Advance to Budapest Final

Peter Schmeichel has waded into the Arsenal debate with a pointed observation: they're not the second-best side in Europe, Bayern Munich are.

The legendary goalkeeper made his feelings known following PSG's passage into the Champions League final, where they'll face the Gunners in Budapest on May 30. Arsenal earned their spot by edging Atletico Madrid 2-1 across two legs in a tightly contested semi-final, setting up a mouth-watering clash against the French giants in their first European showpiece since 2006.

That year, they fell to Barcelona 2-1 in Paris. This time around, Arteta's men are hunting their maiden Champions League crown—a prize PSG already claimed last season and are now bidding to retain.

Speaking to CBS Sports, Schmeichel made clear where his sympathies lay in the pecking order. "I think we can easily argue this but I still think today Bayern Munich are still the second best team in Europe and PSG is by far the best," he said. "It's something you take. If you have to leave a tournament like this and got beaten by a much better team that is some consolation."

The former Manchester United stopper credited Bayern's trajectory under Vincent Kompany, noting they'd improved from their previous campaign despite the exit. Yet PSG's dominance from the first whistle proved decisive, with Schmeichel observing how the Parisians suffocated their opponents' confidence early on.

"PSG right from the first moment kind of sucked all the confidence out of Bayern Munich," he reflected. "Confidence is what we've seen all the way through so it was very uncharacteristic."

Kompany, for his part, refused to dwell on the defeat but couldn't resist pointing fingers at officiating during the two-legged affair, which PSG won 6-5 on aggregate. Speaking to TNT Sports, the Bayern boss acknowledged his side's efforts whilst hinting at controversial moments.

"It was a game of details," Kompany explained. "I think we've played five times against PSG in the last two years and we've won two times, they've won two times and now was a draw, so it's just been that kind of game every single time."

When pressed on the deciding factors, he added: "We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games which, it's never an excuse for everything…but it matters. If we look at both legs probably too much went against us. The guys gave everything and we tried against a fantastic PSG team."