Arsenal 0-1 PSG 

©IMAGO

If Arsenal were unsure of the mammoth task before them to reach the Champions League final, Paris Saint-Germain made it painfully clear on Tuesday night at the Emirates. On a warm, spring day in London, the home crowd were full of hope ahead of a first leg that many had the Premier League giants marked as favourites to win. Once the first whistle was blown, it took the visitors just four minutes to show everyone in the stadium just how wrong they had been. And, as a result, inflict Mikel Arteta with his first every defeat in the Champions League as Arsenal manager in front of his own fans. 

To no great surprise, it was Ousmane Dembélé who somehow found a way to score. Following an impressive counter-attack, which saw the French side cut through Arsenal’s midfield, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia received the ball on the left wing and darted towards the penalty box, before laying off a pass to an unmarked Dembélé on the edge of the box. With a deft swipe of his left leg, the French winger somehow threaded the ball through a mass of onrushing defenders and happily watched it bounce off the far post and into the back of the net. 

Although Dembélé’s goal was the only one of the night, PSG spent much of the evening threatening to double their lead. Of course, Arsenal certainly had their chances and even had a goal narrowly ruled offside in the second half, but over the course of the 90 minutes, it was Luis Enrique’s side that clocked the most shots on goal and forced the most saves from the opposing keeper. And had it not been for some uncharacteristically sloppy finishing from Bradley Barcola in the 70th minute and then Goncalo Ramos just a few moments later, the French giants may well have had the tie wrapped up before departing London. 

Arsenal’s away record in Europe under Mikel Arteta

Although Arsenal manager Arteta can lay claim to an impressive track record in the Champions League, which currently stands at just five defeats in 23 games after Tuesday night’s result, there is a notable discrepancy in his team’s performances at home and on the road. As previously noted, the Arsenal boss had never lost a home match in the European competition ahead of Tuesday’s tie but can still fall back on an impressive record of 10 wins, two draws and just one loss in 13 home games in the tournament. That, unfortunately, changes rather dramatically when we look at the club’s record on the road. 

As we can see in the graphic above, which shows Arsenal home and away form in the Champions League under Arteta, the club have won just five of their 10 away games. While fans of the London club can certainly point to that record improving this season, with wins away to Sporting, Girona, PSV and, most impressively, Real Madrid, the Gunners have typically saved their best performances for home games. And, most worryingly of all, they’ve kept just one clean sheet in six away games in the competition this season and have conceded on average exactly one goal per away game since Arteta took charge of the club. 

If Arsenal hope to overcome PSG in the second leg, they’ll likely need a performance akin to the aforementioned win over Real Madrid. But, unlike that victory in the Spanish capital, Arteta’s side will need to find a way of scoring two goals without conceding any to Enrique’s team. Whether or not that is achievable remains to be seen, but if Arsenal hope to reach their first Champions League final since 2006, they’ll likely need a performance that far exceeds anything that we’ve seen from Arteta’s team in the last two years.