Arsenal will have to take a leaf out of Tottenham Hotspur’s book if they are to turn their Champions League semi-final with Paris Saint-Germain around next week.
After all the pre-game hype and raucous atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, Gooners left disappointed as Luis Enrique‘s side earned a precious 1-0 first-leg win.
Ousmane Dembele‘s early strike – his 33rd goal of the season in all competitions – was decisive for a PSG side who could have easily scored more in the opening exchanges, although Mikel Arteta‘s men soon began to get a foothold in the tie.
However, delight turned to despair when Mikel Merino‘s header was ruled out for offside, while Gianluigi Donnarumma made some crucial saves from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in North London.
The Italy international has been lauded for his displays throughout the tournament so far and made five saves in total tonight, the most for any PSG goalkeeper in a Champions League knockout game on record.
Arsenal must emulate Tottenham to progress to Champions League final
© Imago
Arsenal will now head to the Parc des Princes next week as huge underdogs to turn the tie around, as only two teams have ever prevailed in a Champions League semi-final battle when losing the first leg away from home.
One of those sides was none other than Arsenal’s arch-nemesis Tottenham, who memorably advanced to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-final after a tremendous comeback job against Ajax.
The Lilywhites lost 1-0 at home in the first leg and then fell 2-0 down in Amsterdam in the return fixture, only for Lucas Moura to conjure up a heroic hat-trick to send Mauricio Pochettino‘s team to the final.
Coincidentally, Ajax were the first and only other side to overturn a Champions League semi-final deficit away from home, doing so in the 1995-96 tournament against Greek giants Panathinaikos.
Again, the Dutch titans were slain 1-0 on their own patch before progressing with a 3-0 victory in Athens, where legendary Finnish playmaker Jari Litmanen struck two of Ajax’s three goals on the night.
Arsenal’s David Raya: ‘We dominated the game’
© Imago
The statistics told the story of a closely-fought contest, as Arsenal had 48% of the ball and one fewer shot than PSG, although their Expected Goals (xG) total of 1.65 bettered that of their opponents’ 1.14.
In David Raya’s opinion, Arsenal were on the front foot for the majority of the match, telling Amazon Prime: “They started quick with a goal and they dominated the first 15-20 minutes but after that we dominated most of the game, created the chances.
“I’ve not seen [disallowed] goal back but we needed that lift and we showed from the 25th minute of the first half that we can win against any team. We have showed in the season we can win away games too so we’ll go to Paris next week trying to win.
“It’s only half-time, we take positives. They are a top team but credit to the players for the effort – we could’ve won the game. We played well, we put them on the back foot, hurt them and we created a lot of chances as well. We know we can win against any team.”
Before thoughts of a trip to Paris take precedence, Arsenal must welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates on Saturday in the Premier League, where they are yet to wrap up a top-five finish.
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