Arsenal need something special in Paris, says hopeful Mikel Arteta

LONDON – Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal to produce a “special” fightback against Paris Saint-Germain, after Ousmane Dembele fired the French side to a 1-0 win in the Champions League semi-final, first leg on April 29.

The forward struck early in the fourth minute at the Emirates Stadium and the Gunners were unable to haul themselves level in a tense clash featuring key misses from both teams.

PSG wasted two golden opportunities to take firm control of the tie in the closing stages, as striker Goncalo Ramos hit the bar and forward Bradley Barcola shot wide from close range.

Arsenal also had their moments after a slow start, with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma making two superb saves to deny forwards Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

In contrast to the previous two rounds, when Arsenal established substantial first-leg leads en route to knocking out PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid, Arteta’s men will have to do it the hard way this time.

They head to Paris for the second leg on May 7 knowing an epic performance is required to book a place in their first Champions League final since 2006 when they lost to Barcelona.

“We are at half-time, and my message is exactly the same as it was after we beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter-final. We have to go to Paris and win the game, and we are more than capable of doing it,” Arteta said.

“If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special, and we are going to have to do something special in Paris to be there. We still have a lot of chances to be in that final.”

In the first half, Arsenal were in danger of becoming the latest English team to be blown away by PSG. But Arteta made an unspecified tactical switch that he said helped regain control against a PSG side who had already eliminated Liverpool and Aston Villa, as well as beating Manchester City in the league phase.

“We had one issue. We corrected it after 15 minutes and we turned the game around. There was something very specific with the way we play that we had to get right,” he said, without going into detail.

“We had two one-on-ones with Donnarumma and if they go in, it is a different story. But he made the saves, and that’s the difference in the Champions League. The margins are so small, and it didn’t go our way.”

PSG, like Arsenal, are also bidding to win Europe’s elite club competition for the first time and this was a significant step towards that target.

While the tie is far from over, Luis Enrique’s team have the advantage and showed enough quality in possession to suggest they are capable of adding to their lead at the Parc des Princes.

“There was an incredible atmosphere inside the stadium, it was deafening, but we got off to a wonderful start and the early goal gave us a boost of confidence,” the coach said.

“The game was littered with chances. It could have been better, it could have been worse. We had 10 or 15 minutes when the opponent could have snatched the game away from us but it didn’t happen.”

As a long-time mentor of Arteta’s and a firm admirer of his team, Enrique has no intention of underestimating the north Londoners in the second leg.

“Defensively, we had the attackers working hard, midfielders getting forward and everyone getting back to defend when needed. You can’t play a team like Arsenal without that. It is mission accomplished for this evening. But our objective is to win the second leg at home,” he added.

“With Arsenal, we cannot let our guard down or be complacent because they can score quickly and we are back to square one. They are a team that can completely rewrite history in a second with a goal.

“Nothing is in the bag. We need to win when we are at home because Arsenal now have nothing to lose.” AFP, REUTERS