Arsenal left themselves with a mountain to climb in the Champions League semi-final after falling to a 1-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates on Tuesday evening.
A slow start from the Gunners, and decisive play from PSG’s forwards, put the hosts behind early, with Ousmane Dembele capitalising and putting the French side ahead.
It was a symbol of the opening 20 minutes of the game, with PSG combining secure possession of the ball to bypass Arsenal’s press with instinctive attacking play through their unstoppable front three.
PSG were almost untouchable at times and it gave the Gunners a lot of problems to deal with.
Jurrien Timber, especially, struggled to cope with the intensity and flair of PSG’s forward line, forced into an early yellow card and looking uncomfortable against a calibre of opposition rarely faced.
And that was just the challenge - Arsenal rarely face teams of PSG’s calibre and it showed throughout the game.
Once they were able to put a foot on the ball, Arsenal grew into the game well and started to create opportunities, including an offside set-piece goal from Mikel Merino.
The Spaniard has really grown into the Arsenal side, and despite the goal being ruled out at the start of the second half, he offered a lot in midfield to help relieve the press and keep Arsenal ticking over.
One of the main problems that Mikel Arteta faced was a lack of options on the bench, with only Ethan Nwaneri poised to make a difference from the sidelines.
When you look at the opposition bringing on Bradley Barcola on the other side, it highlights some of the deficiencies with Arsenal’s injury-hit squad and where they could benefit from investment in the summer.
On the whole, it wasn’t a bad account and realistically the scoreline is able to be overturned, even if unlikely, in France.
Against Real Madrid we saw several players step up to the plate and make the difference.
If Arsenal are to progress to the final in Munich, we’ll need to see the same next week to overturn the deficit.
In the interim, the Gunners host Bournemouth on Saturday evening at 5:30pm, before travelling to Paris for the second leg against PSG on Wednesday evening (8pm).
Arsenal's women booked a place in their Champions League final with a 4-1 second-leg win at Lyon and face Barcelona in Lisbon next month.
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