Three reasons to give Arsenal hope of famous comeback against PSG | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta is right to believe Gunners can do something ‘special’ to reach Champions League final

Arsenal lost 1-0 to PSG at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Your matchday briefing on Arsenal, featuring team news and expert analysis from Simon Collings

Sign up

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Mikel Arteta has repeatedly challenged his players to make history throughout their Champions League run this season - and now the Arsenal manager must do so again.

On only two occasions has a team lost the home leg of a Champions League semi-final and gone on to make the final, with Tottenham one of those to do so in 2019.

Here, Standard Sport looks at why he is right to think so…

Partey is back

Thomas Partey always felt like he would be a big miss in the first leg - and so it proved.

In the early stages in particular, PSG exploited the spaces Partey so often operates in and that was especially the case for Ousmane Dembele’s goal in the fourth minute.

Thomas Partey is available for the second leg after missing the first leg through suspension

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Dembele was able to carry the ball from inside his own half to outside the Arsenal penalty area and usually Partey would have been there to close him down.

Declan Rice filled in for Partey at the base of midfield and it felt like he was shackled in such a role.

Rice got more joy when Myles Lewis-Skelly tucked into midfield from left-back more after the first 30 minutes, but even so his influence was diminished.

Partey’s return from suspension next week means Rice can return to an advanced role and that should allow him to have a great impact with and without the ball, as was the case against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

It would also allow Mikel Merino to move back up front. The Spaniard has excelled as an emergency striker since January but was restored to midfield on Tuesday.

Arteta deployed Leandro Trossard up front and Arsenal lacked a focal point when they tried to go long to beat PSG’s press.

PSG will give Arsenal chances

PSG were brilliant in the opening 30 minutes on Tuesday, but Arsenal will take heart from the way they created chances of their own.

Gianluigi Donnarumma made a couple of fine stops to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard, while Joao Neves produced a heroic tackle to prevent Merino from scoring.

Leandro Trossard came close to an equaliser but was denied by a brilliant save by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma

Getty Images

Donnarumma was forced to make five saves, his joint most in a Champions League game this season. It was also the most by a PSG goalkeeper without conceding in a Champions League knockout match since Opta started recording data over 20 years ago.

Arsenal will take confidence from the fact PSG will give them chances next week, especially from set-pieces. Thirty-eight per cent of the goals the French champions have conceded this season have come from set-pieces - and they looked shaky against Arsenal.

Merino was inches away from an equaliser from a free-kick on Tuesday, but VAR spotted he was just offside as he headed home.

Aston Villa showed during the second leg of their quarter-final how PSG can be rocked when under pressure.

Villa scored twice in the first 13 minutes of the second half of their second leg and had PSG on the ropes.

Dembele is a doubt

A lot was made before Tuesday about how PSG were a different side to the one Arsenal beat in October.

A key difference was the presence of Dembele, who missed the first meeting after being left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.

PSG goalkscorer Ousmane Dembele is a doubt for the second leg

REUTERS

The forward is back in favour with Luis Enrique now and his goal on Tuesday was his 25th in 2025. No player from the top five European leagues has managed more in that time.

Dembele caused Arsenal plenty of problems with his movement. He was deployed as a No9 but drifted wide and deep, which left space for others to exploit as it pulled Arsenal’s centre-backs out of position.

The sight of Dembele going off with 20 minutes to go on Tuesday was a relief for Arsenal fans and Enrique has confirmed he is now a doubt for the second leg.

“He’ll undergo tests tomorrow,” said the PSG boss, who was unsure as to the exact nature of the issue. “It’s not serious, it's something very minor, but he’s probably a doubt for the second leg.”