LOSS UEFA Champions League Semi Final: Arsenal 0 - 1 Paris Saint-Germain (1st Leg) | Tuesday, 29th April | KO: 20:00 BST | Amazon Prime Video/TNT Sports

So here it is…



5th May 2009

The biggest movies of the year were Inglorious Basterds, Avatar and the Hurt Locker. Dizzee Rascal and Kanye West (ahem) dominated the charts and David Cameron was still sat in opposition.

Lionel Messi was about to win his first Ballon d’Or AND Arsenal last played in the semi finals of a Champions League. We’ve waited almost 16 years… so many false dawns and even a half decade in the footballing wilderness of the Europa League but now…

WE’RE BACK!

You have to go even further back for our last winning semi final effort with this heart stopper against Villarreal in 2006.



That’s right almost 20 years since that famous night in the then Madrigal. Hopefully the spirit of Jens won’t be needed by Raya over the two legs…

Predicted Team



After the last round the line-up pretty much sets itself. The big hope is that both Merino and White come through their injury scares.

Whilst obviously it’s Merino who’s most important the bench is looking very light with this game probably arriving too soon for Calafiori and Jorginho even though they should be back for the return leg.

The threat of the team depending on whether it’s Trossard or Merino up front is night and day. In a few short weeks Merino has proven to be our signing of the season raking with both goals and assists.

The Opposition

After defeating the biggest name in club football in the quarter finals we now face probably the most in form.

From the new year they’ve won 23, drawn 2 and lost 2 with those two losses coming in legs against Villa and Liverpool when they still managed to progress regardless.

Now whilst as per usual they have steamrollered Ligue 1 their form in the CL has been iffy. A lot of people point to their form post January when they’ve comprehensively slapped up City (although so did we and even Real Madrid managed it) and Stuggart but to my eyes they have looked very uncertain at times against Villa and Liverpool.

Villa in particular had them fully on the ropes looking dazed and PSG needed a dodgy injury time allocation to really get them over the line.

PSG are one of the four other clubs that our manager has played for, and we have an unbeaten record against them having won twice and drawn three of our previous competitive matches, a record we extended earlier this season in the Group Stage when we comprehensively put them away.



Notice both goals coming from crosses… set pieces have proven to be a constant weakness for them this year so hopefully Joever has been cooking something up in the lab.

There are a few former players who’ve played for both clubs ranging from the ridiculous (David Luiz and Kaba Diawara) to the sublime with our once upon a time teenage phenom Nicolas Anelka sandwiching his time at Arsenal and Real between two stints with the Parisians.



Danger Man

extended. Again this isn’t necessarily the star studded PSG team that’s so embarrassingly flattered to deceive in Europe over the years.

Gone are the “Galacticos” of Neymar, Mbappe, Messi, Ramos and Cavani now replaced with a glittering array of youngsters such as Zaire-Emery, Barcola and in particular Desire Doue who looks scarily good.

We could also say Kvaratskhelia who’s arrival in January has coincided with a higher level for PSG but in terms of danger men it has to be the man with more goals than starts this year…



Ousmane Dembele who has been in frightening form in both Ligue 1 and Champions League.

COYG LETS SMASH THEM

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

For the record @Synical I'm happy to give him this summer window with Berta. But no trophy next season and he must go.

 

[Trilly]

Both were offside.

Was that confirmed?

Either way does that genuinely change how the game went to you? No team at this stage will keep their opponents completely quiet but they looked relatively comfortable today.

 

[Gooner Zig]

That "foul" on Saka in the first half was criminal. Mendes a very very lucky boy as IIRC no one else is close to Bukayo and he could have waltzed into the box unmarked.

 

[High Elbow]

That early goal was huge..gave them confidence and made us very nervy and unsure. They were never gonna dominate us from start to finish but the fear was condeding a second goal which would've killed off the tie. Credit to the team for staying in the game against a clearly better opponent. With a bit of luck we might've escaped with a draw but also somewhat fortunate we only lost by a goal.

Arteta clearly desperate for his captain to turn things around otherwise he would've brought on nwaneri alot sooner. It was a bit pointless bringing him on in injury time when psg were always gonna slow the game right down and give us nothing but he still had a moment with that martinelli chance at the end.

 

[viktor]

Read your post back. It is actually BS .

well you skip this part

the fact is everybody believe that arteta should deliver premier league last season 23/24 if he can beat west ham at home

i also want to say that Read your post back. It is actually BS from what you said on below . because the fact is last season 23/24 we still have full squad (having his first choice players available for most of the season) but the result arteta still failed deliver major trophy premier league

Arteta should deliver despite having none of his first choice players available for most of the season

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

Was that confirmed?

Either way does that genuinely change how the game went to you? No team at this stage will keep their opponents completely quiet but they looked relatively comfortable today.

Apparently so yeah.

Look I thought we were really poor in that opening 25 minutes and didn't finish our moments. Both teams had equal chances they just finished one of them. That one on one Trossard had

I also think losing 1-0 isn't the worst thing in the world for psychology of the match next week. For example win 2 or 3-1 and PSG are galvanised at home, it would be rocking for them.

Instead they're in a spot where they're now very confident, it's good for us imo. Better for my mental health anyway, expectation is on the floor.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if we go out there and win 3 or 4-1

 

[dino bravo]

You don’t understand football well enough for me to bother continuing this “conversation”.

Have a good rest of your evening though.

So arrogant. No problem if we don’t create any chances next week then as they don’t matter according to this football hipster

 

[DUFFMAN]

But when is the cut off point? You can't go into every season and make excuses towards the end if it doesn't work out.

We are now 5 years without a trophy. We've never won a champions league and we haven't won the league in 20 years. TWENTY.

There comes a point where you simply have to let someone else have a go.

We are close.

Rip it all up now for what?


Second in the league and in the semi finals of the CL.

Let’s follow the man United path so…

 

[viktor]

What has Chelsea, Tottenham and United managed with more money spent, please?

tottenham not our rival so dont care about them, they are not even big club because only have 2 major trophy (premier league), why you bring that s h i t e club

chelsea won 1 major trophy ucl in 20/21 in last 5 years since arteta joined arsenal on december 2019, so atleast chelsea can make excuse if fail win major trophy after spent billion pounds

manutd already won 20x premier league trophy + dominated premier league in ferguson era + won 3x ucl trophy + treble winner, so atleast manutd can make excuse if fail win major trophy in this era after spent billion pounds

while the other hand arsenal trophyless epl for 20 years + never won ucl

 

[db10_therza]

So arrogant. No problem if we don’t create any chances next week then as they don’t matter according to this football hipster

Not arrogance. It’s based on the fact that I wrote a long post and you didn’t bother reading past the first line. Since you can’t / won’t read, I have to make assumptions about how this conversation goes.

 

[Trilly]

Apparently so yeah.

Look I thought we were really poor in that opening 25 minutes and didn't finish our moments. Both teams had equal chances they just finished one of them. That one on one Trossard had

I also think losing 1-0 isn't the worst thing in the world for psychology of the match next week. For example win 2 or 3-1 and PSG are galvanised at home, it would be rocking for them.

Instead they're in a spot where they're now very confident, it's good for us imo. Better for my mental health anyway, expectation is on the floor.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if we go out there and win 3 or 4-1

Yeah I get you.

Think it’s tricky now and it looks like PSG aren’t naively going to just go for it against us.

They won’t quite park it but I think they’ll just do what they did today, pick their moments wisely and make sure they surround Saka in defence. They seem to have enough ability to routinely beat our press which kind of unravels most of our game.

It’s gonna be a tough one I can’t lie, I think with Partey back we’ll be more of a threat though…depending on what version of him we get.

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

We are close.

Rip it all up now for what?


Second in the league and in the semi finals of the CL.

Let’s follow the man United path so…

Yeah we are close, but what if we continue to be close for 3 more years? Then all that talent we have leaves?

It's a tough one.

 

[MD3 Gunner]

I mean they can easily go out to Paris and get the job done if they just believe and go for it but I’m afraid they just don’t have the minerals to do that. The setup against Bayern last year doesn’t give me any confidence

 

[MD3 Gunner]

For the record @Synical I'm happy to give him this summer window with Berta. But no trophy next season and he must go.

Naw man **** another window. All I’m giving him is the 2nd leg. If he doesn’t win it, Cheerio

 

[Synical]

But when is the cut off point? You can't go into every season and make excuses towards the end if it doesn't work out.

We are now 5 years without a trophy. We've never won a champions league and we haven't won the league in 20 years. TWENTY.

There comes a point where you simply have to let someone else have a go.

So you want to start from the beginning and toss out the person that has made demonstrable strides forward? Ridiculous.

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

Yeah I get you.

Think it’s tricky now and it looks like PSG aren’t naively going to just go for it against us.

They won’t quite park it but I think they’ll just do what they did today, pick their moments wisely and make sure they surround Saka in defence. They seem to have enough ability to routinely beat our press which kind of unravels most of our game.

It’s gonna be a tough one I can’t lie, I think with Partey back we’ll be more of a threat though…depending on what version of him we get.

PSV and Madrid they are not. They seem to be very good tactically under Enrique, lots of very clever footballers. Basically every single one is technically gifted as well.

Anything can happen in football, a penalty in the 10th minute, corner goal from us early on... Etc etc. We all know that.

I will say... PSG have a better football team than us right now, individually they simply have the better team so if they win is it really a shock? We've punched well above our weight with the injuries.

I think I'll shut off social media for a month after this season because it's going to be very toxic.

 

[DUFFMAN]

well you skip this part




i also want to say that Read your post back. It is actually BS from what you said on below . because the fact is last season 23/24 we still have full squad (having his first choice players available for most of the season) but the result arteta still failed deliver major trophy premier league

You’re full of ****e if you think we had a fully fit squad last season.

 

[db10_therza]

Yeah I get you.

Think it’s tricky now and it looks like PSG aren’t naively going to just go for it against us.

They won’t quite park it but I think they’ll just do what they did today, pick their moments wisely and make sure they surround Saka in defence. They seem to have enough ability to routinely beat our press which kind of unravels most of our game.

It’s gonna be a tough one I can’t lie, I think with Partey back we’ll be more of a threat though…depending on what version of him we get.

The most worrying thing for me today was that PSG “managed” the game after going 1-0 up.

I didn’t think they had it in them. Young team, full of super talent, I thought they’d just continue trying to ball out but nah man these ****ers are smart and disciplined.

It’s gonna be tough in Paris. We will need to press them like craaaaazy because they’ll be more than happy passing it around at the back. Rice will be

 

[dino bravo]

Not arrogance. It’s based on the fact that I wrote a long post and you didn’t bother reading past the first line. Since you can’t / won’t read, I have to make assumptions about how this conversation goes.

You are very arrogant. Just because you wrote a lot of words doesn’t mean you are right. I mean, you said chance creation doesn't matter for a start. Now you enjoy the rest of your night.

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

So you want to start from the beginning and toss out the person that has made demonstrable strides forward? Ridiculous.

We wouldn't be starting from the beginning.

Any new coach would have one of the most talented squads in the world to work with.

If we finish 2nd or lower next season without a trophy you must surely consider it?