It was a night of fine margins at the Emirates, summed up by Ousmane Dembele’s fourth-minute strike that clipped the inside of David Raya’s post to hand PSG a precious first-leg lead in a tense Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal had their chances – Gabriel Martinelli was inches from turning in a wicked Saka cross, Donnarumma made two outstanding saves to deny the Brazilian and later Trossard, and Mikel Merino saw a header ruled out by VAR early in the second half.
PSG might have extended their advantage, too, with late misses from Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos. It could easily have gone 2-0. Fine margins, indeed.
In truth, the visitors were good value for their win. Their control in the opening 20 minutes, particularly the way they smothered Arsenal’s midfield, evoked uncomfortable memories of Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona.
For all the pre-match noise, the Gunners looked a touch overawed. Possession was sloppy, the tempo laboured, and Bukayo Saka — usually the heartbeat of this side — barely got a kick early on. Only after a tactical tweak that saw Martin Ødegaard shift position did Arsenal begin to press with any real cohesion.
Mikel Arteta will take encouragement from his side’s improvement towards the end of the first half, but he knows a step up is needed if they’re to be in Munich next month.
“We’re at half-time. Half-time and my message is exactly the same as it was following us beating Real Madrid at home 3-0 – that we have to go to Paris and win the game,” he told his post-game press conference.
“We are more than capable of doing it because I saw two very good teams with margins that are so small. They had efficiency in front of the goal and their keeper as well made a difference to see the result that we’ve seen tonight.
“We did a lot of things very well as well,” he added. “We had a spell in the first half and the game had phases.
“The first 15-20 minutes, especially them scoring so early in a great combination, playing when the margins as so small, the finishing is unbelievable.
“And then we had especially one issue that we corrected after 15-20 minutes and we sustained that for the rest of the game, which I think turned the game around.
“If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special and we’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there.”
There was a glimmer of positive news post-match, with PSG confirming that Dembele had picked up a hamstring strain that will need to be monitored in the coming days – a potential boost for the Gunners.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will be able to welcome back Thomas Partey for the return leg after he served a one-game suspension. Assuming no issues crop up against Bournemouth at the weekend, the Ghanaian is expected to slot back into the holding role, freeing up Declan Rice and Mikel Merino to push higher – as a number 8 and number 9 respectively.
Looking ahead to the decider in Paris, Arteta said: “I don’t know the percentage [of going through] but we have a lot of chances to be in that final and as I repeat myself, you have to do something, especially in the competition, to earn the right to be in the final and the time to do it is going to be in Paris.”
