Arsenal face an uphill battle to reach the Champions League final after a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates, Ousmane Dembele’s early strike proving decisive in a tense encounter.
PSG dominated the first half, playing with the kind of confidence expected at this stage. Arsenal, by contrast, looked tense – whether due to the occasion or simply an off night.
Even so, there were chances. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard forced sharp saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, who preserved the visitors’ lead.
The Gunners improved after the break but still couldn’t find their rhythm. A Mikel Merino header briefly had the Emirates celebrating, only for VAR to rule it out for a marginal offside.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos made of the action…
Mikel Arteta on his side’s performance…
I’m disappointed with he result. We put so much into the game. It’s true that in the first 10-15 minutes, we struggled to gain momentum and gain the dominance we wanted. We were very inefficient at regaining the ball where we wanted to. That caused us a few issues. Regardless, nothing happened apart from the goal, which was an individual moment. Those are the margins at this level. After that, I think the team got better and better and better. Disappointing not to get a draw, at least.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
__
Luis Enrique on a big win for PSG…
Mission accomplished this evening. Our sole objective is to win the second leg at home as well. With Arsenal, we cannot let our guard down and be complacent. This is a team who can completely rewrite history in one second and we’ll be back to square one. Nothing is in the bag yet, as they’ll have nothing to lose.
Source: Uefa.com
FT: Arsenal 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain
PSG got right down to business with their fastest goal of the 2024-25 Champions League and are headed back to Paris with a goal advantage.
— Opta Analyst (@optaanalyst.optajoe.com) April 29, 2025 at 10:06 PM
David Raya on the difference between the teams…
They started very quick with a goal. They dominated the first 15 minutes but, after that, I thought we dominated most of the game. We had the chances and Donnarumma made some brilliant saves. It’s only half-time, we take a lot of positives. We know they are a top, top team. We know they keep possession a lot. They’re really good at that. They had that chance and put it in the back of the net. It went for them, that’s football. We had chances to score, but didn’t manage to.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
__
PSG midfielder Vitinha on his side’s 26-pass move for their goal…
“It was a great night, mostly for the group. It was a very good performance for the team. We had the ball most of the games. This game we had to adapt to the different circumstances and we did it. We defended well and we attacked well. [The goal] shows the dynamic that we have and the strong collective. It is not over, and we have to have a strong match in Paris.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
Arsenal got it together as the half went on, but they finished with the lowest first-half passing accuracy in the opposition half (64.9%) for any of the semi-finalists in a #UCL match this season.
Arsenal’s first-half season average is 83.0%.
— Opta Analyst (@optaanalyst.optajoe.com) April 29, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Luis Enrique on his goalkeeper Donnarumma making big saves…
That’s the work of goalkeepers, no? Save the team – they work every day for that. In a semi-final, you need every player to perform at a high level.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
__
Martin Odegaard on turning things around…
Everyone is a bit disappointed with the result. We wanted to win here today and we wanted to do better in certain areas, but it’s just half-time, we have another game and we have to analyse today, learn from it and make sure that we go full gas into the return leg and be convinced that we can turn it around. That’s the aim now. They have some great players and they play really good football, but as I said, we have to go fully convinced into the second leg. We have to look back at the game today, analyse it and make sure we learn from the few of the lessons we got today. It’s another game to be played and we’re going to be ready.
Source: beIN SPORTS
__
Mikel Merino on Arsenal taking confidence from tonight…
I think what we’ll learn is that we are able to dominate any team, anywhere. This is a team that really wants to be the ball the whole time, really wants to keep you in your box. Today we proved that we can play against anyone and be the main team on the pitch. Today showed us that we are really capable of performing anywhere. We can’t wait to go to Paris.
Source: Arsenal.com
26 – There were 26 passes in the build-up to Ousmane Dembélé’s winner for Paris SG, both the most for a goal for the French side and the most for a goal conceded by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League on record (since 2003-04). Engineered.
— OptaJoe (@optajoe.com) April 29, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Achraf Hakimi on his forwards helping out…
Yes, the coach says we’re 11 attackers and 11 defenders, so when you see your strikers, Ousmane, Doue or Kvara or Gonzalo running like the first defender, they give us power to run also with them, to see we’re strong all together.
Source: CBS Sports Golazo
__
On Thomas Partey returning for the second leg…
We will have another number, we are very short to change the game. We are looking forward to it. Now we are going to prepare very well for Saturday first [against Bournemouth], then our trip to Paris to try to be in the Champions League final. The way we played against this team, one of the best in Europe, there’s no question about that, and what we’ve been able to do in many moments of the game is a credit to the boys. But we’re disappointed with the result.
Source: beIN SPORTS
Wayne Rooney on where Arsenal go from here…
I hope Arsenal go on and win the competition, but they have to go in to the second leg with belief. They have to be patient, slow the game down, take the ball at the right times and be clinical.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
__
Alan Shearer on the challenge ahead…
I think Arsenal fans will accept Paris have been the better team. It’s not an impossible task for Arsenal, but they know they’re up against a good team with really good individuals who will make it tight in the second leg.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport
Matthew Upson with an optimistic take…
I think it’s hugely in the balance. I might be too optimistic here but I just get a feeling it is going to be a very different affair [at Parc des Princes].
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
__
Clarence Seedorf on where Arsenal went wrong…
You have to be able to understand when you have to go press high, when you cannot and when you must sit back. Particularly against these PSG guys with lots of skill and quality. The thing I saw they are making a lot of stupid fouls when they are pressing. You don’t want to make a stupid mistake. Everything is under control, you’re pressing well, this is a moment where you want to keep them under pressure when you make a stupid foul for nothing. They are already too far up the field.
Source: Amazon Prime Video Sport (via Metro)
Mikel Arteta on how his side must react…
If you want to win the Champions League or be in the final, you have to do something exceptional in the tournament at some point. That’s what we have to now plan and do when we get to Paris in a few days. I know we’re facing a top team, and we did a lot of good things but unfortunately the result doesn’t show a lot of the good things that we did. It’s half-time, you see the margins. You see the level of the two teams. We’re going to have our chances and we’re going to have to be very clinical when we have them.
Source: Arsenal.com
__
Thierry Henry on the tie not being over…
There is another tie, you never know what’s going to happen. Last year Paris Saint-Germain against Barcelona, everyone thought it was dead, and Araujo gets sent off, and suddenly Paris Saint-Germain go on and win the game away from home real easy. Anything can happen, they didn’t score the second goal, you’re still in the tie. Now I’m going to repeat what I said, Paris Saint-Germain were far superior in this game, so a lot needs to be changed in order for Arsenal to beat Paris Saint-Germain over there.
Source: CBS Sports Golazo
📽️ “Missed chances and close shaves” – Arsenal 0-1 PSG – On the Whistle
youtu.be/jjUKL7K_B3Q
— Gunnerblog (@gunnerblog.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 11:56 PM
