BBC Pundit Drops Major Arsenal Concern for First Leg Against PSG | OneFootball

Arsenal are headed to the UEFA Champions League semifinals after a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarterfinal, wrapping up a commanding 5-1 aggregate victory to book a date with Paris Saint-Germain. Still, one pundit has flagged a potential concern for the Gunners ahead of the first leg.

The Premier League side advanced past the Spanish club thanks to a well-rounded performance in Madrid. Bukayo Saka had a chance to give Arsenal an early lead but missed a first-half penalty, offering Real Madrid a brief opening to mount a comeback from their three-goal deficit. That window quickly shut.

Saka made amends in the 65th minute, calmly finishing to give Arsenal the lead. Vinicius Jr. responded just two minutes later to level the match, but Arsenal never looked rattled.

Gabriel Martinelli sealed the result in stoppage time, finishing off a dominant showing and sending Arsenal through in style.

Arsenal faces one major concern in the first leg against PSG

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In the first leg, Arsenal will have to contest that they’ll be without midfielder Thomas Partey, who is suspended for the match due to yellow card accumulation. As a result, BBC pundit Theo Walcott stated that not having Partey is a major concern for him.

“PSG hadn’t really clicked then, but they have now,” Walcott said (h/t BBC). “Arsenal will be ready for them, but I think they might miss Thomas Party, who is suspended after his yellow card tonight.

“He was so important at the Bernabeu, not just with the way he was getting back into the back-line and to help out with the amount of crosses he was dealing with tonight.

“Partey was also helping Arsenal to slow the ball down and to control the midfield. The PSG game is all going to be about the midfield for me and Declan Rice is now probably going to play a game with someone who he is less familiar with.

“Mikel Merino can drop in there, but that might affect the forward line more because of where he has been playing recently. This is what Mikel Arteta will be thinking about now, and he might tinker with a few things against Ipswich and Crystal Palace, to try things out before the semi-final.”