Mikel Arteta is still optimistic that Arsenal can reach the Champions League final after losing their semi-final first leg at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal were second best on Tuesday night as Luis Enrique’s side claimed a crucial 1-0 victory at the Emirates.
Ousmane Dembele’s 25th goal this year was enough to get the French champions over the line with legendary Gunners manager Arsene Wenger in attendance.
Gianluigi Donnarumma played a huge part with two incredible saves to keep a clean sheet but the visitors easily could have scored a second late on.
Arteta was understandably “disappointed” to lose and admitted that his team “struggled” early on during his post-match analysis.
“Disappointed with the result,” he told Amazon Prime. “We put so much into the game.
“We struggled first 10/15 minutes to get momentum and dominance. Disappointed not to get a draw at least.”
“Credit to them (PSG). They get out of a situation that is close.
“We had seven players behind the ball and they were clinical, sometimes you just have to recognise the talent of the individual.”
Asked about Mikel Merino’s disallowed goal minutes into the second half and missed chances from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, Arteta added: “Great timing, the margins, millimetres offside.
“The action of Martinelli one-on-one, he has done that before. Trossard in a one-on-one and he [Donnarumma] makes the save.
“That’s the margins, that’s the level.”
Asked if he missed the suspended Thomas Partey, the Arsenal manager responded: “I think Declan [Rice] and Mikel [Merino] were enormous.
“He gives options and a different threat. It gives us flexibility to change the game.
“It’s half time and we have a big chance to be in the final.”
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya also said PSG dominated early on and believes his side “played well”. They didn’t, for what it’s worth.
“They started quick with a goal and they dominated the first 15/20 minutes but after that we dominated most of the game, created the chances,” he said.
“Donnarumma made some good saves. It’s only half time, we take positives. They are a top team but credit to the players for the effort – we could’ve won the game.
“We know they keep possession a lot and are good at that. They had that chance and put it in the net, this is football and we had chances to score but we didn’t manage to.
“I’ve not seen [disallowed] goal back but we needed that lift and we showed from the 25th minute of the first half that we can win against any team. We have showed in the season we can win away games too so we’ll go to Paris next week trying to win.
“We know how important Thomas Partey is but lucky enough we have good depth in midfield that everyone can step in. Declan [Rice] as the six showed a good game, he was good on the ball and everyone was really good today.”
On the second leg, Raya added: “Try to approach the game the same way. We played well, we put them on the backfoot, hurt them and we created a lot of chances as well. We know we can win against any team.”