PSG were the better team. They defended better, they finished better, they transitioned better, they countered better and they performed better.
I can admit that, and I left the post-match press conference incredibly frustrated that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta did not admit that either. Football isn’t binary, just because one team is better does not mean you are bad.
Arsenal put on a very spirited but, in my view, flawed second leg performance. The damage was done at the Emirates Stadium as the single goal by Ousmane Dembele proved the perfect gut punch to all the build-up.
The same can be said about Fabian Ruiz, whose brilliant volley curtailed the momentum and early onslaught of Arsenal chances that had to be taken if the Gunners were going to have a hope of winning this tie. And like the story for much of the season, clinical finishing evaded them and in the end it proved the difference.
Arsenal would end the tie with an xG of 5.11, scoring just one goal. They went into a semi-final of a UEFA Champions League with Mikel Merino as their centre-forward.
This is no slight on Merino, it is purely a perfect showing of the reality that Arsenal find themselves in for such a big moment after a 16-year wait that they are ultimately unprepared for. Yes, both Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz’s absence are critical here.
However, Jesus was known to be missing throughout a large portion of the January transfer window while Havertz has not been considered a transformative figure for the No.9 role by any stretch.
There are things both in and out of Arsenal’s control that has led them to a fifth consecutive trophyless season. This campaign has been particularly painful and unfortunate due to the injuries and some of the horrendous decisions we’ve seen.
But the buck stops with the club when you end two transfer windows with a sense of failure. While some good work was done in the summer, if everyone was indeed fit, none of the players signed across this season would have been in that starting XI. That is a damning indictment when you have come so close to winning the league the season before.
That is what must change in the summer coming up, and another underwhelming market would only further the growing apathy inside the fan base at the situation. No one person is bigger than the club and while, for me at least, we are not at the stage of a managerial change, the longer things go without that trophy to point to, it becomes harder to justify.
But this was indeed a season where luck abandoned the team more than ever, and more than I have seen befall another side. Despite that Arsenal reached two cup semi-finals and could indeed yet still finish second at the very minimum and will expect to re-enter the Champions League next season.
That said, I must come back to that post-match press conference because while the context of anger, annoyance (as Arteta admitted himself) discontent and frustration was evident, for me, I wanted to hear more accountability, more… humility. I thought that was lacking when Arteta doubled down on suggesting Arsenal were the best side in the competition.
Watching the semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona, I personally felt I was watching two superior teams. Having seen PSG in the flesh twice outplay Arsenal on back-to-back occasions, they deserved this game.
I found it slightly baffling Arteta chose to reveal, or at least make the claim, that the PSG bench had even said they felt Arsenal had been the better team. Something which unsurprisingly Luis Enrique came out to deny and flatly disagree with afterwards.
"Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don't agree at all [that Arsenal deserved to win]," Luis Enrique said. "They play the way they want and love to play, but in the two legs, we scored more goals than them and that is the most important thing.
"Arsenal played a great match and we suffered a lot, but we deserve to get to the final."
And they could have scored more. Kvicha Kvaratskelia not scoring in either leg is quite astonishing with the chances he had, the woodwork was hit three times by Ruiz, Goncalo Ramos and the Georgian across the two games. Yes the Gunners had big moments, but they came mainly in small bursts.
Yet, Arsenal may look at the chance Bukayo Saka had after they had just scored to open the door ajar as where the tie completely evaporated. Had that gone in, what might have been?
For me, I think the tie was lost before it started - in Madrid. I cannot help but notice the considerable improvement in the performance with the presence of Thomas Partey in the side.
The ability to push Declan Rice up and move Mikel Merino into the target man role helped the side get a stronger grip and control that was paramount to any chance of victory. Getting that booking in the Bernabeu needlessly… well it has indeed come back to haunt him and them.
Partey’s future remains a question and Arsenal are indeed still keen on signing Martin Zubimendi. While the Spaniard is a very good player, they will need more come this summer in order to build and take that final step to the trophy.
When the club lost to Bayern Munich last season, the club added four players, none of whom start in the best XI and a forward who played a total of zero minutes across both ties against PSG. That is where eyes will turn if the summer is a repeat of last year.
While Arteta may have lacked the accountability in the cold light of the post-match emotions, I sincerely hope that this pain can be turned into something good, a determination to do everything possible to create a dominant, winning side. Over to you Arsenal. Please do not let us down.
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