Arsenal was trailing 1-0 after the first leg of their semi-final of the Champions League tournament and Mikel Arteta was eager for a “special” display in the second leg, especially after PSG’s Ousmane Dembele impressed during the first leg.
Dembélé scored at the fourth minute mark during the first half clash at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal had numerous attempts at leveling the score. The match was very intense and both teams missed key chances.
PSG squandered further clear chances to seize control of the tie in the dying moments of the game when Goncalo Ramos struck the bar while trying to shoot, and Bradley Barcola skied the ball from a close range and shot wide.
They faced some hostile moments also, as Donnarumma had a donut to start the game like he was steadily on fire and made two amazing saves on Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard Trossard who both attempted to score.
Unlike the previous two rounds in which Arsenal absolutely crushed lets up in the first leg en route to defeating PSV and Real Madrid, this time it looks like it is does not looking good for Arsenal.
As it stands now, they travel to Paris for the second leg and there is literally-less than no chance for them to escape without a god-like performance if they hope to secure a place in the final. For the time being, they’re looking for a win in the May 7th match to change that.
Arteta, whose club has never won a Champions League title, was sufficiently convinced by the first leg that it’s far from impossible for Arsenal to come away with a win at the Parc des Princes.
He said, “We are at half-time, and my message is precisely the same as the one I relayed after we thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals,” he stated.
“We have to head over to Paris and win the match, which is something we are more than capable of pulling off.”
To win the finals for the champions league, one would need to do something exceptionally remarkable, and we are bound to need to do something exceptional in Paris to truly stand a chance of making it to that final.
During the first half, there were signs that Arsenal might become the most recent English side to be wrecked by PSG.
However, PSG had already knocked out Liverpool and Aston Villa and even bested Man City in the league phase. PSG was quite the competition.
On the flip side, Arteta had made some untactical adjustments that he said were vital in controlling an overpowering PSG.
Arteta said, “We had one issue that needed correcting it after 15 minutes and then flipping the game. Getting right involves a detailed precise plan into how we play in order to change the outcome of the game.”
In a completely different note, ‘In case we score’, the score would have ended up the other way around, ‘In case we get ‘Donnarumma’d’ with some legendary baseball sliding saves, the match could end up completely different.
A single inch and everything misses down to winning and losing, that’s the beauty in the Champions League. However, winning and losing is negligible, but not this time.
PSG also look keen on changing the story with this being there first elite club. The squad made some excellent motions that gave an impression they might add to the Paris lead in the upcoming clash.
Luis Enrique recalls my screams and the advanced adrenaline my spectators and teammates shared when he said, “Add to the fact we scored an early goal and everyone went crazy. Further boosting the confidence shredging everyone into chaos, with deafening cheers that left the whole stage as is.”
“The match was full of opportunities but it was not the best nor the worst. For fifteen minutes, the other team had the chance to take the victory from us, but fortunately, that did not happen.”
Luis Enrique, an admirer of Arteta’s work, is not planning to take the north London team lightly for the second leg.
“As for today, I’d say mission accomplished:” he stated. “However, we have to win the second leg at home. Arsenal is a team we cannot afford to relax against, as they possess the ability to score quickly.”
“They can instantly alter the course of the game with a single goal,” said.
“Nothing is guaranteed, not without winning at home. Arsenal has nothing left to lose at this stage,” explains.