Arsenal fail to rise to the occasion against PSG in Champions League semi-final first leg defeat
29 April 2025, 22:09 | Updated: 30 April 2025, 14:27
Arsenal's stage was set to deliver a famous night at the Emirates. The reality was far from it in the end, as Mikel Arteta's side came up short against Paris Saint-Germain with a deflating performance.
The nature of their win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals filled Arsenal with hope and confidence that, after their season threatened to fizzle out, they had found another gear. History had already been made and they wanted more.
The Emirates was a cauldron of noise in the build-up to the club's first Champions League semi-final for 16 years and the fans were as noisy as this stadium has known them. Ousmane Dembele's fourth-minute strike cut right through all of that.
Arsenal's fans recovered after that brief stunned silence but left the stadium wanting more. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli had their chances, and there was that save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Arsenal didn't do enough in the end.
Mikel Arteta's reign at Arsenal, however impressive the progress, is at risk of becoming one characterised by near misses. Premier League runners-up three years running, and now their Champions League run that promised so much is at risk of going out with a whimper.
Arteta and David Raya were quick to remind us of that Arsenal performance in the Bernabeu after the game as evidence this team is more than capable of pulling off a big performance away in Europe.
- Report: Arsenal 0-1 PSG
- Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal can 'do something special' in return leg in Paris
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