PARIS :On the eve of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris St Germain, manager Mikel Arteta said his players needed to be in the right place at the right moments to have a chance of reaching the final in Munich.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, despite 20 attempts at goal, they paid the price for failing to make those moments count as they lost 2-1 in the Parc des Princes to bow out 3-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Just as when losing the first leg 1-0 at home in north London last week, Arsenal were undermined by a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal as well as the brilliance of PSG’s Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“I think we were very close, much closer than our results showed,” a drained-looking Arteta told TNT Sports.
“What we’ve done today, the way we started, how we handled the pressure, the amount of pressure after 20 minutes, it should be 3-0, but there is something extra that you need in the competition to go your way. And it didn’t.”
Arsenal needed a fast start and they caught PSG cold in the opening 15 minutes with Declan Rice heading wide of an open goal and Donnarumma blocking a close-range effort by Gabriel Martinelli before making a stupendous low save to keep out Martin Odegaard’s fizzing shot.
PSG rode their luck and then made Arsenal pay in ruthless fashion with sublime goals by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi putting the French champions in total command.
Even then, it felt as though Arsenal were not out of the tie and when Bukayo Saka did finally beat Donnarumma in the 76th there were jitters in the French ranks but Saka then wasted a glorious chance to set up a grandstand finish.
After outplaying Real Madrid at home and away in the quarter-final, it was a tough way for Arsenal’s run to end and it left Arteta again contemplating another trophy-less season and critics sure to label his side the ‘nearly men’.
“I think 100 per cent there’s not been a better team (than Arsenal) in the competition so far, from what I’ve seen, but we are out tonight,” Arteta said.
“This competition is about the boxes, and in the boxes that are normally the strikers’ most of the time, and a goalkeeper, and (Donnarumma) was the best player in both games.”
Rice said an early goal for Arsenal would have swung the tie.
“If you score one of them chances, probably in the first 15 or 20 minutes, the game completely changes on its head,” the England midfielder said. “Then, two mistakes from us, two goals for them. And obviously, with the chances we’ve missed, it just felt like it wasn’t meant to be.”
Arsenal have now failed to progress from each of their last four major cup semi-finals (2020-21 Europa League, 2021-22 League Cup, 2024-25 League Cup, 2024-25 Champions League).
They also fell agonisingly short in two Premier League title battles with Manchester City in the last two seasons, but Rice said those setbacks would make them stronger.
“I think sometimes you have to lose a few in order to win, and you have to overcome setbacks and mentally grow and grow as a person and as a player and as a group,” Rice said.
“We’re growing as a team, as people, that we need to keep pushing and keep believing.”
