Arsenal will have to do something special in Paris: Mikel Arteta|
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that his team will have to do “something special in Paris” to reach the Champions League final as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in the first leg of the semi-finals. The match was played at the Emirates Stadium where PSG suffered an early shock with Ousmane Dembele scoring the opening goal. Now the Gunners will have to make up this one-goal deficit during the match at the Parc des Paris next week.
Arteta said after the match: “If you want to win the Champions League final you have to do something special. We have to do something special in Paris.”
Arsenal tried hard throughout the match but could not convert any of their 5 shots on target into a goal. PSG dominated the game in the first 20 minutes, and their defence frustrated Arsenal afterwards. This was Arsenal’s first goalless Champions League match at the Emirates Stadium since February 2016.
Arteta further said: “We still have a chance to reach the final. Like I said, you have to do something special in the Champions League, and now that time has come in Paris.” Arsenal have not played a Champions League final since 2005-06, while PSG are trying to win their first Champions League title.
Luis Enrique’s PSG team relied on goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma against Liverpool and Aston Villa this season and he became a hero in those matches as well. But Donnarumma saved one on one shots from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard to stop Arsenal from scoring, and kept his clean sheet. Arteta said about the goalkeeper:
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“We have two attackers one on one with Donnarumma. If he had scored, the game would have been different. But Donnarumma made great saves like he did against Liverpool and Villa – and that is the difference in the Champions League.”
But PSG manager Enrique said it was normal: “That is the goalkeeper’s job, isn’t it? To save the team. We practice for it every day. In the semi-final you need performance from every player.” Arsenal now needs a tremendous performance in the second leg if they are to reach the final in Istanbul.
