Mikel Arteta: we were much better than PSG
First of all, congratulations to PSG on making the final. I will make a judgement when I am a little bit cooler but the feedback I got from the bench straight away is that we were much better than them. Over the two games the best player has been their goalkeeper.
I think we were very close – much closer than the results show. I’m very proud of the players, what we did today and how they handled the pressure. After 20 minutes it should have been 3-0. But there is something extra you need in this competition for it to go your way, and it didn’t.
Yes, we were very close. Yes, for long periods of both legs we were much better than them. But we are not there [in the final], and that has to hurt. If we want to win this competition, we need to realise that and there are certain things that are on us. You shouldn’t be just … understanding that we are out. That’s not the way I look at it.
I don’t think there has been a better team in the competition [than Arsenal]. But we are out. This competition is about the boxes, and in the boxes there are normally the strikers and a goalkeeper. He was their best player in both games.
I’m so proud of the boys. They deserve a lot of credit for everything. With the amount of injuries we have – we arrived here in the worst state you can get as a team. [The performance] gives me a lot of positivity for the future. But tonight am very upset.
David Hytner's match report
When it really was all over, this raucous venue pounded to a delirious beat. Paris Saint-Germain are going to their second Champions League final, deserved winners across the two legs. They will fancy their chances of a first title when they meet Inter Milan in Munich.
“Arsenal needed a fox in the box,” says Martin Keown on TNT Sports. He knows, he was there in ‘93.
For one of Europe’s Big Five leagues, a drought will end on 31 May. Either Internazionale will become the first Italian side to win the Champions League since Jose Mourinho in 2010, or PSG will become the first French team to do so since Marseille in 1993.
“Non, rien de rien; je ne regrette rien,” begins Charles Antaki. “Arteta would be entitled to lead the team in a rueful locker-room chorus of that Piaf classic. Injuries, form, slips, the hole where a killer centre-forward should be - yes, maybe those are regrettable; but outweighed by spirit and effort. Or nearly.”
I thought they were superb tonight, particularly Saka, Rice (apart from the first goal) and Saliba. The contrast with last year’s timid elimination is enormous. And, as Barney wrote this morning, the way you lose matters.
“Goalkeepers win trophies really,” says Gary Naylor. “Just an interregnum when Messi and Ronaldo fooled us.”
It will be PSG’s second European Cup final – they lost 1-0 to Bayern behind closed doors in 2020 – and they will surely start as favourites. That’s no slight on Inter’s mentality monsters, just a reflection of PSG’s brilliance. They are a joy to watch.
Full time: Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Arsenal (agg: 3-1)
Paris Saint-Germain’s young team are one game away from immortality. They will play Internazionale in the final after seeing off Arsenal on an exhilarating night in Paris. It was a fabulous game, played with rare intensity; Arsenal couldn’t have given more and will lament the margins at this elite level – and the remarkable reflexes and agility of Gianluigi Donnarumma. They failed better than last year, but that will be no consolation for the next few days.
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90+2 min White’s flat cross is headed across goal and wide by Merino. A tricky chance, and probably Arsenal’s last.
In the parlance of our time, Arsenal have left it all out there. But so have PSG, and they had just a little bit more to leave.
90+1 min Five minutes of added time.
90 min The last time PSG won a European trophy was, and you’ll like this, the Intertoto Cup in 2001. They beat Brescia, Roberto Baggio and all, on away goals after a 1-1 aggregate draw. Mikel Arteta was in that team, whatever that means.
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90 min The aggregate score doesn’t tell the full story of a fascinating semi-final. Gianluigi Donnarumma has made three genuinely awesome saves across both legs, and Arsenal started this second leg with ferocious intent. But overall, PSG deserve to go through to play Internazionale in Munich on 31 May; they are a truly brilliant football team, and the T-word is the operative one.
In this year’s competition PSG have eliminated Manchester City (kind of), Liverpool, Aston Villa and now Arsenal, which means they get to keep English football for the next 12 months.
89 min Partey’s cross is headed well wide by White, who couldn’t get a clean jump because of Hernandez’s challenge.
88 min: PSG substitution Goncalo Ramos replaces Nuno Mendes, so Lucas Hernandez will move to left-back. I’ll level with you, I haven’t a clue where he was playing before that.
86 min Now Saka has been booked for… actually I’ve no idea. Anyone? Anyone? Fry?
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85 min Calafiori is shoved over off the ball by Kvaratskhelia and goes looking for a physical right of reply. Both players are booked.
84 min Last year, Arsenal departed the Champions League with a meek performance in Munich. Whatever happens, they can’t be accused of that tonight. They’ve gone toe to toe with a sensational team in one of the most hostile atmospheres in European football.
83 min: Arsenal substitution Ben White is on for Jurrien Timber at right-back.
82 min A fierce free-kick from Hakimi wobbles a couple of yards wide. Raya had it covered and pulled his hand away.
81 min A sharp PSG break ends with a crisp shot from Dembele that is pushed up in the air and away by Raya. A relatively comfortable save, certainly by the stands Donnarumma has set tonight.
80 min: Glorious chance for Saka! Oh my giddy days. Calafiori’s brilliant cross on the run beats the diving Donnarumma and is half-volleyed over the bar by Saka. It was an open goal, he was maybe 10 yards out, but he couldn’t get over the ball with his right foot.
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78 min A superbly judged press from Rice 20 yards from goal almost leads to a chance for Arsenal. PSG suddenly look a bit jittery.
Trossard eases Marquinhos off the ball on the left wing, moves forward and crosses low towards the near post. It’s cut out by a combination of a defender and Donnarumma but runs perfectly for Saka to slide into the empty net. Marquinhos wanted a free-kick for the challenge by Trossard; replays confirm he was trying it on.
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GOAL! PSG 2-1 Arsenal (agg: 3-1; Saka 76)
If ever a man deserved a goal.
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74 min: PSG substitution Lucas Hernandez for Desire Doue.
Achraf Hakimi has put PSG into the Champions League final! Kvaratskhelia’s cutback went straight to Partey on the edge of the area, but he dithered and was robbed by Hakimi. He played a quick one-two with Dembele and shaped a sweet right-foot shot into the far corner from 15 yards. Lovely finish. But Arsenal will lament both Partey’s indecision and the loose pass from Kiwior that sparked the PSG break.
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GOAL! PSG 2-0 Arsenal (agg: 3-0; Hakimi 72)
It’s all over now, baby blue.
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70 min: PSG substitution Ousmane Dembele is on for Bradley Barcola. That means Doue will move to the right wing.
DAVID RAYA SAVES THE PENALTY!
69 min: PSG 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0) It was a stinker of a penalty, the kind of softly struck shot that relies entirely on the keeper going the wrong way. Raya didn’t; he waited, waited some more and then plunged to his left to push it round the post.
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69 min: Double Arsenal substitution Trossard and Calafiori for Martinelli and Lewis-Skelly.
Now, Vitinha is over the penalty…
PENALTY TO PSG!
67 min Under the laws, I guess it’s fair enough – and PSG suffered on this ground against Man Utd in 2019-20 – but to anyone who has played football, that’s just nonsense. I don’t think anybody appealed. Play certainly continued and then suddenly the referee was running over to the monitor.
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66 min: VAR check for a PSG penalty! What’s happened here? I think this will be given. Hakimi’s shot brushed the fingertips of Lewis-Skelly, who was trying to block and twisted his body into an odd position. His right arm was outstretched and that usually means trouble for a defender.
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Wonderful save from Donnarumma!
64 min Saka, on the right edge of the area, cut inside and curled a trademark curler towards the far top corner. It was perfectly weighted, heading for the postage stamp, but Donnarumma strained every sinew to fingertip it over the bar. He’s not a goalkeeper, he’s Inspector Gadget.
Given the Euro 2021 final, not to mention this tie, Saka must wonder what he has to do to score past Donnarumma.
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62 min “That United v Newcastle FA Cup tie, featuring Jim Leighton, Roy Aitken, Mark McGhee and another typical Brian McClair finish, practically falling over as he sclaffed the ball into the net,” says Simon McMahon. “I liked him a lot as a player, and I’m not sure how long the Puskas Award has been around, but I doubt whether he would have made many shortlists. Or Mick Quinn either. A goals a goal, though, beautiful or not.”
You wash your mouth out this instant.
60 min Saka continues to ooze moral courage, demanding the ball and running at the defender every single time he gets it. He’s fouled, which means a free-kick on the right wing to be taken by Odegaard. Donnarumma comes through the crowd and gets good distance on his punch.
59 min Saka’s dangerous inswinger is headed across goal and wide by Timber, who got to the ball in front of Donnarumma at the near post. That was half a chance.
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58 min Saka curls the corner right under the crossbar and Donnarumma punches it over the bar for another.
57 min Saka’s shot from the angle is deflected behind by Nuno Mendes. Saka runs across to attend to business…
56 min Vitinha shows ridiculously good footwork to beat Timber and Partey on the byline in the area. His cross takes a deflection and is claimed by Raya, but that run will be coming to a meme near you soon. Meme, is that what they’re called?
56 min Lewis-Skelly, who like Nuno Mendes has looked more vulnerable than in the first leg, brings down Barcola and is booked.
54 min Nuno Mendes turns the tables on Saka for the first time in a while, charging down the left before pushing the ball infield to Doue. He faces up Kiwior and tries to surprise Raya with an early sidefoot across goal. He gets too much on it and it goes well wide.
53 min PSG have made a more assured start to the second half than they did the first. Arsenal need something to change the mood: a near miss, a four-minute hat-trick from Jurrien Timber.
50 min Saka’s okay.
49 min Saka stays down after a challenge from Nuno Mendes. The referee doesn’t give a foul; not sure why upon seeing a replay. This, by a distance, is the most uncomfortable I’ve seen Nuno Mendes look.
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48 min PSG break dangerously down the right… until Saliba smooths across to take the ball off Barcola with the minimum of fuss. Regal defending.
48 min How should we describe Fabian Ruiz’s goal? It wasn’t a volley, because it bounced, and he didn’t catch it on the half-volley either. But if you just call it a shot you don’t convey the fact it was bouncing when he hit it. Quarter-volley? I know it sounds a bit velocista but I can’t think of a better alternative.
47 min “I would truly loved to have seen Big Micky Quinn in the Champions League,” says Tim Woods. “The archetypal ‘fox in the box’, he’d have shown these modern types the folly of trying to play it out from the back.”
He’d have made Arsenal even more dangerous from corners as well. A clear and obvious foul? I don’t think so.
46 min Peep peep! Arsenal begin the second half; no substitutions on either side.
On Fabian Ruiz’s goal, the deflection off Saliba was bigger than I realised at the time. It’s hard to be certain but, looking at it now, David Raya might have been able to save it had it not deviated.
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Half-time reading
Arsenal have some very good attacking options on the bench, including Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri. But in view of Declan Rice’s pre-match comments, Peadar de Burca has a more leftfield suggestion.
Half time: Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0)
A pulsating first half in the Parc des Princes. Arsenal started with ferocious intent and would have taken the lead on the night but for the brilliance of Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG, who were pummelled for the first 15 minutes, started to look menacing on the break and the last half hour was an end-to-end thriller.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post, Fabian Ruiz walloped PSG into a 2-0 aggregate lead and Bradley Barcola looked set to make it 3-0 until Declan Rice made a vital tackle. At the other end Bukayo Saka had Nuno Mendes on toast and put in a series of inviting low crosses. The invitations, alas, were not accepted.
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45+1 min Another inviting low cross from Saka is booted clear by Hakimi, six yards out at the far post. Just sayin’: Mick Quinn would have put that away.
44 min Doue, who has been scintillating on the break, beats Kiwior through sleight of hip and whacks a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked by Lewis-Skelly and knocks him off his feet.
42 min Saka runs at Mendes, moves infield and slides a dangerous low cross that is missed by Merino at the near post. Half a chance at best. But Saka is the biggest threat and is giving Nuno Mendes a seriously difficult night.
By the way it looks like Fabian Ruiz’s goal took a slight deflection off Saliba. I’m not sure Raya would have saved it without the deflection though.
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40 min Lewis-Skelly is robbed by Joao Neves just outside the area. He finds Doue, whose speculative backheel deflects across the face of goal and is cleared by Timber.
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38 min Kvaratskhelia somehow wriggles through a crowd of Arsenal players in the area. Saliba comes across to make a crucial clearance.
This is brilliant. The tempo and intensity are really something.
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37 min Martinelli’s deep cross is headed away as far as Timber, whose sizzling volley from 15 yards is blocked by Kvaratskhelia. No idea whether it was on target but Timber caught it on the sweet spot.
36 min Saka goes on another dangerous run before playing the ball back outside to Rice. His cross is cut out but that was another good break from Saka, who has been much more influential than in the first leg.
34 min Arsenal continue to dominate possession; the difference is that PSG are now carrying an enormous threat on the break. At the risk of demonstrating an expertise in the Bleedin’ Obvious, Arsenal can’t concede the next goal.
32 min: Good effort by Merino. A cross from the right is headed down by Rice towards Merino, 15 yards out. He hooks the bouncing ball towards goal and only a few yards wide of the far post. That was a really clever effort.
32 min I think Rice did get the last touch on that shot. It looked like Barcola was shaping to place the ball across goal when Rice barrelled into the challenge and pushed it towards the other side of the game. Raya made a good save but it was also a great challenge from Rice.
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30 min: Vital save by Raya! This is such good fun. PSG break two on two, with Kvaratskhelia on the ball. He plays it across to Barcola, who sits a defender down and drives a low left-foot shot that is superbly saved to his left by Raya. In fact the last touch might have come from Rice, who charged back and make a desperate lunging tackle. Even if he didn’t touch the ball – I haven’t seen a replay yet – his presence meant Barcola had to take the shot more quickly than he would have liked.
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29 min That’s a bad moment for Declan Rice, whose heavy touch was read by Kvaratskhelia and ultimately led to the goal.
Vitinha’s free-kick was headed away to the edge of the area by the backpedalling Partey. Fabian Ruiz chested the ball cleverly across Martinelli, waited for it to bounce and leathered a left-foot shot into the corner. That’s a spectaculargoal, apparently his first in European football.
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GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0; Fabian Ruiz 27)
Fabian Ruiz has smashed PSG in front!
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26 min Rice is booked for a late tackle on Kvaratskhelia, who read the play really well and nicked the ball off Rice. PSG have a free-kick just outside the area in line with the left edge…
23 min: Chance for Doue! This is great entertainment. Saliba plays a loose square pass on the halfway line that is nicked by Barcola. PSG have a two-on-two break and he finds Doue on the edge of the D. Saliba does well to hold him up and eventually Doue shoots tamely straight at Raya.
22 min Rice’s corner is headed away to the edge of the area, where Odegaard is lining up a volley until Doue pokes the ball away to relative safety. Good defending.
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21 min A smooth run through midfield from Odegaard, who looks sharp tonight, eventually leads to another Arsenal corner. Rice is over it…
20 min PSG have established a degree of defensive control but Arsenal are still the dominant side. They’ve certainly changed the mood of the tie; now they need a goal.
18 min Nuno Mendes is booked for a late tackle on Timber. That’s good news for Bukayo Saka.
17 min: Kvaratskhelia hits the post! Now both teams are cooking with gas. After that long spell of possession, Marquinhos and Doue combined nicely to find Kvaratskhelia on the edge of the area. He used Timber as a screen and curled a beautiful shot that beat the flying Raya and hits the face of the far post.
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16 min Doue calms things down with a lovely run through midfield that eventually leads to PSG’s first decent spell of possession.
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15 min PSG have hardly crossed the halfway line in the first 15 minutes. It’s been an extraordinary start from Arsenal – intense and focussed but also relaxed and almost playful in possession.
13 min “I was in Kehl, Germany in 2006 on an industrial visit and watched the final surrounded by beer guzzling big Germans all rooting for Arsenal courtesy Lehmann and all of them walked away after the red card,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “My heart says Arsenal and my head says PSG. But I don’t trust either of them as they swapped places seven times last night.”
12 min Stop the press: a long throw from Thomas Partey doesn’t cause chaos in the PSG area.
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10 min “Arsenal need to stop being so tentative in these early exchanges…” says Brian Withington.
If their balls get any bigger, I fear for medical science.
Wonderful save from Donnarumma!
9 min Another long throw from Partey, this time on the right, is only half cleared to the edge of the area. Odegaard lashes a first-time shot through the crowd that is heading for the bottom corner until Donnarumma plunges to his left to push it behind. That’s an extraordinary reflex save, especially as he wouldn’t have seen the ball until late.
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7 min Martinelli wriggles away from Hakimi, who recovers well to block the cutback and concede a corner. Arsenal are all over PSG like a cheap cliche.
6 min PSG look like a team who don’t know whether to stick or twist. Arsenal have no such dilemma and have started the match superbly.
4 min: Fine save by Donnarumma! Partey launches a very long throw from the left that beats everyone at the near post and is met by Martinelli, eight yards out. He knees a volley through the crowd and Donnarumma reacts really smartly to dive to his left and push the ball away.
3 min: Big chance for Rice! It’s been a confident start from Arsenal, who are having more of the ball than they did at the start of last week’s game.
And they should be level on aggregate! Timber wins the ball just outside the PSG area and crosses early to Rice, six yards out at the far post. He towers all over the defender but heads just wide of the left-hand post. Donnarumma was motionless.
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2 min “I’m pretty sure Arsenal fans will be hoping to dust off this classic in a couple of hours,” says Phil Withall. “Actually, I’m pretty sure most of them won’t, but you never know...”
1 min Peep peep! PSG kick off from left to right as we watch. Arsenal win the ball and Saka has an early run at Nuno Mendes, who does well to get between Saka and the ball. Both left-backs were terrific in the first leg.
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The atmosphere is specfreakintacular. This is it: euphoria or despair, nothing inbetween.
“Will this be a rumbustious feast of hectic drama, like last night?” says Charles Antaki. “Probably not. Will Arsenal men be inspired by what the women’s team did against Real Madrid? Maybe, but again, current form seems against it. Will Kvaratskhelia reach the outer limits of goal-mad passion when he slots in PSG’s third of the night? He probably won’t have cause to, so, unlikely. But there is always Bukayo Saka to spread a bit of happiness among the Arsenal faithful, and if he and Declan Rice have a good game, honour will be reasonably satisfied.”
In the last decade, the business end of the Champions League – particularly the semi-finals – has been full of unimaginable twists. While I think PSG will go through, Arsenal have a chance. Balls out, Declan’s about.
A reminder of the teams
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Barcola, Doue, Kvaratskhelia.
Substitutes: Safonov, Tenas, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, Lee, L Hernandez, Mayulu, Zaire-Emery, Lucas Beraldo, Tape, Mbaye.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Jorginho, Sterling, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri.
Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany).
Musical interlude
“Whenever a moody English group rocks up to perform in the City of Lights, I’m reminded of the excellent live album Paris by The Cure,” says Peter Oh. “Arsenal need to forget about yesterday and not worry about tomorrow. Play for Today.
Arsenal’s last Champions League final was in Paris, the agonising 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in 2006. And although that was played at the Stade de France rather than the Parc des Princes, the words ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ may be thrown around willy-nilly should Arsenal get the job done tonight.
Declan Rice’s rallying cry (clean version)
I think you need to have full belief. We certainly have that as a group. The manager certainly drills that into us every single day. If we’re the best versions of ourselves tomorrow night, and we know we can be that, there’s no stopping us getting into that final.”
The players on a yellow card
Nobody. They were wiped before the semi-finals, so the only way to miss the final is if you’re sent off.
A relaxed Mikel Arteta talks to TNT Sports
It’s our biggest night for a long time. But this isn’t where we want to be – we want to make the final. We are very close. We learned a few things from the first game, about the level of the two teams and the small margins. We have a big conviction that we’re gonna do it tonight.
This is where this club deserves to be. We still have so much to do – so much to win, so much consistency to show – but hopefully we are on the right trajectory.
[On the return of Thomas Partey and what it means for Declan Rice] He will have more freedom, that’s for sure. It’s a partnership that we have developed; both are very comfortable in those positions. It will be a really tough match [is suddenly drowned out by booing as Arsenal’s goalkeepers come out for the warm-up] and we’ll need all our players – at some stage we’ll need fresh legs.
They were quite direct last week. We expected them to play much more but they didn’t really want to against our high press. Hopefully we can do it better tonight.
We face a big atmosphere every time in the Premier League – it’s a special game, an emotional game. This club has been trying to reach the final and win it for a long, long time. Hopefully we can play in our favour.
As well as Paris Saint-Germain played at the Emirates, they needed Gianluigi Donnarumma to produce one brilliant save and another even better one.
In which David Squires continues his noble quest to prove once and for all that laughter is the best medicine
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PSG team news: Dembele on the bench
Ousmane Dembele, who scored the only goal last week, isn’t fit enough to start after sustaining a knock in that game. Bradley Barcola replaces him; that’s the only change from the first leg at the Emirates.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Barcola, Doue, Kvaratskhelia.
Substitutes: Safonov, Tenas, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, Lee, L Hernandez, Mayulu, Zaire-Emery, Lucas Beraldo, Tape, Mbaye.
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Arsenal team news: Partey returns
The Arsenal team is as expected, with a single change from the first leg. Thomas Partey returns from suspension in place of Leandro Trossard, so Mikel Merino will move back into attack.
Jurrien Timber is fit to play at right-back after missing the weekend defeat to Bournemouth. Jorginho and Riccardo Calafiori return to the bench.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Jorginho, Sterling, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri.
“Well,” says James Humphries in response to my question about catenaccio. “Obviously Inter shot their bolt.”
Arf, very good.
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“Equally, PSG-Barca might have been the final of the century,” adds James Humphries.
That reminds me of one of my favourite David Lacey lines (and by heaven it’s a long list). When Sheffield United played Wimbledon in October 1990, at a time when both teams were hellbent on discovering grass in the sky, Lacey began his match report with a gem of a line. Thanks to Jason Rodrigues at the Guardian Research Department for sending me the pdf.
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“Of course, the important matters are now done – Motherwell are safe for their 41st consecutive year in the top flight – but I think Inter might be the team best placed to do PSG,” says James Humphries. “Solid defenders, happy to sit back and let the opposition wear themselves out, then strike on the break? That’s catenaccio, baby! This falls down a bit for Arsenal-Inter, admittedly.”
How do we reconcile the concept of catenaccio with that orgy of goals last night?
Read Barney Ronay preview
Can Mikel Arteta learn and adapt in the space of a week from the way PSG pinned Arsenal’s full-backs deep in their own half and emptied the midfield, playing with Arsenal’s set way of pressing to create the kind of space that led to the only goal? Arteta is not a gambler, or an advocate of creative freedom. But sometimes this amounts to pragmatism, too.
Last season’s quarter-final defeat by Bayern Munich boiled down to small details, finding a single late goal, adapting in the moment. This is what is required in Paris, as much as the result even, if only for evidence that this team can still develop and improve.
Preamble
Hello, good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League semi-final second leg between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. The bad news for these teams is that they have precisely 0.00% chance of serving up a feast to compare with Inter v Barcelona last night.
The good news is that they don’t have to: last night was 50 shades of WTF, a match we’ll talk about forever, but all that really matters to PSG and Arsenal is reaching the final and keeping alive the chance to become European champions for the first time. Arsenal won’t care if they win 1-0 after extra time and then 1-0 on penalties.
PSG start as pretty strong favourites after their cool-headed victory at the Emirates. Before the first leg, Mikel Arteta asked the supporters to bring their boots; yesterday Declan Rice reminded his teammates to bring their balls, the bigger the better.
Arsenal have never won a European tie after losing the first leg at home, although they were effectively half a goal behind when they won away to Juventus in 1980. The winners will play Inter in Munich on 31 May. It’ll probably take the performance of a lifetime for Arsenal to get there. But as last night reminded us, in the knockout stage of the Champions League, pretty much anything is possible.
Kick off 8pm BST.
