**Arsenal**closed the door on their Champions League campaign last night. They lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their semi-final encounter in the French capital, going down 3-1 on aggregate. The Gunners were going for a place in their second ever final in the tournament after 2006 but could not turn around a 1-0 first leg loss, nor avenge the pain from that fateful night in Paris.
Here are four things we learned from this loss for the Gunners:
Arteta embraces Arsenal’s latest evolution
Over the last three years, the best version of **Arsenal**has always looked a little different from the last. The edge for the team in this campaign has been their power and precision at set-pieces. So, it was no shock that these routines helped them lead a serious siege for the first fifteen minutes of the match.
Declan Rice rose over **Marquinhos**to land the first blow from an aerial attack as he narrowly missed the target. Gabriel Martinelli and then Martin Odegaard came close to hitting the back of the net as Thomas Partey hurled long throws into the danger zone. The Parisians were under pressure and will be grateful for their giant, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who dived to make two great saves in this phase.
It was also clear to see that the Gunners had a better grasp of their opponents in open play. They had a plan to neuter the Parisian press. Jurrien Timber took much higher positions on the pitch to push the blue and white shirts backward on that side of the field and Gabriel Martinelli made progress against Achraf Hakimi on the left wing to create the situations to fill up the penalty area from set-pieces.
It was not pretty, it was very attritional, but it worked well enough to cause confusion and doubt at the back for the Parisians. Such a response is the least one would expect from an outfit that are in the final four of a competition for the European elite, but Mikel Arteta clearly takes a liking to tactical battles.
The striker shortage rears its head
Enrique admitted that his men had to suffer for that first quarter of an hour. However, there were no goals at all in the first half for Arteta's men to cash in on their threat. That is an all too familiar feeling.
In their six semi-final outings before the trip to the French capital, the Gunners had not scored a single goal. That lean patch stretched back to 2021, so older squads look a lot different from the one that played Paris. But arguably, one area of the pitch is in even more need of attention now than before.
**Arsenal**simply do not have anyone who can claim to be a top-class striker in their ranks. Gabriel Jesus and **Kai Havertz**have been out of action with injuries, but both players have proven that their best contributions continue to come outside of the scoring stakes. In their absence, Mikel Merino has made his mark in the squad as a makeshift striker, but even his efforts were not enough in this tie.
The Spaniard sunk back into the middle of the park and helped to create the overloads that messed up the organisation of Real Madrid in the last round. But when the time came to crash the box with killer movement, especially in transitions from the high press, his presence was often missing.
The Gunners are crying out for top-end talent and strength in depth. It has been a valiant effort to get to the semi-final of this tournament, but quality kills at the elite level, and in the end, it has cost them.
Are Arsenal platforming their star boy to shine?
In a season of stagnation, critics continue to look at the attack. Having scored more than eighty goals after 35 fixtures in the last two Premier League seasons, they have hit a tally of only 64 this year. That dramatic drop-off has demanded even more from their talismanic figure on the right flank.
Bukayo Saka sat out for three months after a hamstring tear: an injury emblematic of the burden that he has saddled on his shoulders in the final third. Even though his return raised the spirits around the squad, he cannot do it all on his own, and he might look at the opposition in wonder at what could be.
Luis Enrique has entertained the masses with a style that is the envy of Europe. He has hit the sweet spot between teamwork and talent and has a deep roster of offensive talent with the freedom to wreak havoc. That is not only a question of numbers but also how he chooses to empower his attackers.
Saka stays glued to the right wing and, in the past, he has benefited from a fluid connection with **Ben White**and Martin Odegaard. But with the former, who works well on the overlap, on the bench, and the latter out of form, he frequently lacked the service to slip into more dangerous areas of the pitch.
Saka signalled flashes of what he could do with more freedom to move across the attack near the end of the first half in the first leg. That could be the way to bring even more brilliance out of his game.
Questionable cup record remains
For the moment, **Arsenal**must accept another year of being so close yet so far from any silverware.
It is not all doom and gloom: the Gunners can hold their heads high knowing that they can compete with the best in Europe and are still one of the strongest sides in England despite suffering a string of injuries and some unfortunate officiating incidents. The floor of the team has improved by leaps and bounds. But when trophies are on the table, the ceiling of a side to maximise moments also matters.
That is a feat which is not totally out of reach. Rice's free kicks in the quarter-final against Los Blancos are exactly the moments of magic that make all the difference. But that individual quality has to become more of the exception than the norm if the Gunners are going to take the next step.
**Arsenal**are now five years without a trophy since lifting the **FA Cup**under Arteta in 2020. He will want to end this drought as much as anyone else with major honours that can crown the completion of the rebuild at the club. Time will tell if he, and the board, can work together to find the right answers.