[Mikel Arteta](https://www.football.london/all-about/mikel-arteta) has claimed that Gianluigi Donnarumma was the "best player on the pitch" [during Arsenal's defeat against Paris Saint-Germain](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/psg-vs-arsenal-live-kick-31591264) - and Erling Haaland appeared to agree with him.
The PSG goalkeeper made NINE saves across both matches in the Champions League semi-final, including four as the Gunners were beaten at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Arteta's side suffered a 2-1 defeat on the night and 3-1 loss on aggregate as they bowed out of Europe's premier club competition at the last four. Despite this, the Arsenal head coach was proud of his side's performance, claiming the Gunners were "much better" than PSG and that Donnarumma was the star performer.
After Ousmane Dembele gave PSG a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg last week, Fabian Ruiz scored in the first half to put the French side in firm control in Paris. Achraf Hakimi made it 3-0 on aggregate for Luis Enrique's men, and although Bukayo Saka pulled one back, it proved to be too little too late.
But in truth, Arsenal were unfortunate not to have scored more and made the scoreline look closer. In the first leg, Italy international Donnarumma made two excellent saves to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, and he was at it again at the start of the second leg.
With the score at 0-0 on the night and 1-0 on aggregate, Martinelli's close-range effort was saved by Donnarumma, before the ex-AC Milan man kept out Martin Odegaard's rasping low drive. He made two further stops - one from Bukayo Saka and another from Declan Rice - in the second half.
Speaking after his side's Champions League exit, Arteta told TNT Sports: "First of all, I am going to congratulate PSG for reaching the final. I'll make the judgement when I am a little bit cooler, but the feedback what I got from the bench was that we were much better than them.
"If you look at the two games, the best player on the pitch has been the goalkeeper (Donnarumma). He's made a difference for them in the tie and I think we were very close, much closer than the result showed.
"I am very proud of the players, what we did today, how we started, how we handled the pressure. After 20 minutes it should have been 3-0, but there is something extraordinary in the competition to go your way and it didn't."
Manchester City forward Haaland was watching the match and decided to share his opinion on two PSG players on Snapchat. The Norwegian, 24, praised goalscorer Hakimi in his first post, saying: "What a player," alongside three folded hands emojis and a blue love heart emoji.
He added a second post with a selfie and the caption: "And Donnarumma nr1."
Haaland asked about who his 'player of the game' was between Hakimi and Donnarumma, to which he responded by using an image of the PSG No.1 in the background.
Arteta and Haaland were therefore in agreement that Donnarumma was the standout player on the night, as PSG booked their place in the final to face Inter Milan later this month.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, meanwhile, was another that praised Donnarumma's performance after the game. He told TNT Sports: "It's gutting. Such a dominant start.
"If you score one of them chances in the first 15-20 minutes, the game turns on its head. Two mistakes from us, two goals from them, and with the chances we missed, it felt like it wasn't meant to be. We gave everything. Donnarumma has been unbelievable, and it's small margins."