Forget 'the process' - Mikel Arteta needs silverware next season or else! Winners and losers as another trophy-less Arsenal season is confirmed by Champions League exit while PSG prove fresh projects can be an instant success

Earlier this week, Trent Alexander-Arnold confirmed that he'll leave Liverpool at the end of the season. At this stage, the whole world knows that he's bound for Real Madrid, apparently because he wants to challenge for the Ballon d'Or.

The thing is, though, Alexander-Arnold isn't even the best right-back in the world - that particular title belongs to Achraf Hakimi, who, as he so thrillingly underlined at Parc des Princes, boasts the kind of all-round excellence that the England international still sorely lacks.

Hakimi was sensational against Arsenal. No player on the pitch won more tackles than the Moroccan, who also had more touches than any of his team-mates - underlining just how vitally important he is to PSG's play. This is a complete footballer capable of shutting down a dangerous winger like Gabriel Martinelli while also popping up inside the area to whip home a crucial goal in a Champions League semi-final.

Madrid have done very well to get Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer, but it remains a mystery as to why they let the far superior Hakimi leave for just €40 million (£34m/$45m) five years ago.

Just before an Arsenal corner on Wednesday, the camera cut to Nicolas Jover. We know why, of course. Jover is the most famous set-piece coach in football. He's even got a mural near the Emirates dedicated to him.

The uncomfortable truth is, though, that Jover's level of fame is completely disproportionate to the efficacy of his work. In the Premier League alone, the likes of Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Everton are just as dangerous from set-pieces as Arsenal - if not more so.

Furthermore, Thomas Partey launched so many throw-ins into the PSG area at Parc des Princes - and to zero effect - that it looked like a serious strain for him to even raise his arms to applaud the visiting fans at full-time.

It shouldn't be overlooked either that Arsenal conceded the game's opening goal due to their failure to adequately deal with a free-kick delivery - just four days after Bournemouth beat them at the Emirates with a couple of set-pieces. In that context, the comparisons to Stoke City actually feel like an insult to Tony Pulis' former team!

The argument here is not that Jover is bad at his job; it's more that we should probably be seeing and hearing a little less about a supposed set-piece specialist that isn't actually making that much of a difference to Arsenal's results - at least not in a positive sense anyway.

Vitinha felt privileged to play in the same PSG side as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. The Portuguese even said he can't wait to tell his grandchildren about it one day. However, Vitinha also tellingly admitted that he prefers the new PSG project - the one that doesn't feature any global superstars - and it's very easy to understand why.

For more than a decade of their ownership, the Qatari Sports Investment (QSI) group were obsessed with signing high-profile players, believing that was the only way to win the Champions League. The recruitment strategy didn't work, though. PSG repeatedly came up short in Europe - and often in the most devastating of circumstances.

Of course, last year's semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund (a team that they really should have beaten) also hit hard - as did losing the club's all-time leading, Kylian Mbappe, to Real Madrid. However, the French forward's defection actually proved a blessing in disguise as his removal from the wage bill afforded Luis Campos greater wriggle room when it came to acquiring even more top young talent in the transfer market, including Joao Neves, Willian Pacho and Desire Doue. The brilliant Luis Enrique has taken care of the rest, turning PSG into a real team for arguably the first time since QSI took charge of the club in 2012.

As a result, there's a very real chance that Vitinha might end up telling the grandkids that while playing with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe was great, lining up alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia & Co. was so much better.

Gigi Donnarumma has long had his doubters at Paris Saint-Germain. In an era in which goalkeepers are forced to effectively serve as sweepers, the Italian's ability with the ball at his feet has always come under intense scrutiny. There are even ongoing rumours that Luis Enrique is open to the idea of selling Donnarumma.

If the Spaniard doesn't think that the 26-year-old suits his style of play, that's fair enough. At the end of the day, though, a goalkeeper's primary purpose is not playing the ball out from the back - it's keeping it out of the back of the net.

In that particular job requirement, there is nobody better in the world right now than Donnarumma, who made one incredible point-blank range save from Gabriel Martinelli at Parc des Princes, and then two stunning stops from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.

These interventions weren't just spectacular either; they were absolutely crucial. As Gianfranco Zola said on Amazon Prime Italia, "If you want me to analyse the two legs on the balance of play, I have to say that Arsenal are not an inferior team to PSG. The only real difference between the two teams was Donnarumma, that's it!"

Ousmane Dembele, Ballon d'Or winner? The mere idea would have been unthinkable as recently as last summer. Dembele was for so many years regarded as one of the biggest wasters in football, a prodigiously gifted player with an unprofessional attitude. Most Barcelona fans, in fact, would probably consider him the worst signing in the club's history - which is really saying something.

However, there's now a very real chance that Dembele will be crowned the best player in the world later this year. For starters, he's enjoying the most prolific campaign of his career, with 33 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions. He'd never previously managed more than 14.

More importantly than anything else, though, Dembele has a chance to win the Champions League. His main Ballon d'Or rivals do not. Mohamed Salah bowed out of the tournament in the last 16 (Dembele even upstaged the Egyptian at Anfield), while Barcelona trio Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Pedri were all eliminated at San Siro on Tuesday.

Nothing is decided, of course, and we've seen plenty of controversial Ballon d'Or votes over the years. But in a year without any major international tournament, the Champions League is usually decisive.

If Dembele gets his hands on the most important trophy in club football in Munich on May 31, he'd immediately become the clear favourite to pick up the game's most prestigious individual accolade too.

Arteta joked about Liverpool clinching the Premier League title 10 days ago with fewer points than Arsenal racked up in each of the previous two seasons - but his team's lack of a major title is no laughing matter.

The Gunners' long-suffering and much-derided supporters have been repeatedly told to 'trust the process' and while great progress has been made under Arteta, some frustrated fans are starting to lose faith.

As Wayne Rooney pointed out after the first leg, Arsenal are exhibiting a worrying inability to "get over the line" when it really matters, with the Manchester United legend expressing his concern that the players are being inhibited by an almost palpable sense of "fear" of failure. It's becoming difficult to disagree.

Arsenal weren't expected to win the Champions League this season, but this was meant to be their year in the Premier League. Instead, they'll be bestowing a guard of honour upon Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, just four days after the crushing confirmation that a fifth-consecutive campaign is going to end trophy-less.

You can be sure that most Gunners won't see the funny side of that particular stat, meaning if Arteta doesn't win some silverware next season, he's going to be in very serious trouble.