Arsenal fail to rise to the occasion against PSG in Champions League semi-final first leg defeat

Arsenal's stage was set to deliver a famous night at the Emirates. The reality was far from it in the end, as Mikel Arteta's side came up short against Paris Saint-Germain with a deflating performance.

The nature of their win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals filled Arsenal with hope and confidence that, after their season threatened to fizzle out, they had found another gear. History had already been made and they wanted more.

The Emirates was a cauldron of noise in the build-up to the club's first Champions League semi-final for 16 years and the fans were as noisy as this stadium has known them. Ousmane Dembele's fourth-minute strike cut right through all of that.

Arsenal's fans recovered after that brief stunned silence but left the stadium wanting more. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli had their chances, and there was that save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Arsenal didn't do enough in the end.

Mikel Arteta's reign at Arsenal, however impressive the progress, is at risk of becoming one characterised by near misses. Premier League runners-up three years running, and now their Champions League run that promised so much is at risk of going out with a whimper.

Arteta and David Raya were quick to remind us of that Arsenal performance in the Bernabeu after the game as evidence this team is more than capable of pulling off a big performance away in Europe.

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There is no doubt that playing at Real Madrid, with the club's history and status in the Champions League, poses a unique challenge, one which Arsenal rose to with aplomb. This feels quite different though.

Arsenal were playing against a quite underwhelming Real Madrid team with more stars than they know what to do with. PSG are playing on a whole different level and surely pose a far greater challenge.

If Arsenal are to deliver the history they crave, and return to the Champions League final for the first time since 2006, then, as Arteta said after the game, they will have to do something special.

Only two sides, Ajax and Tottenham, have reached the final of this competition after losing the first leg of their semi-final at home.

Arsenal caught cold by fast-starters PSG

PSG made 26 passes in the lead-up to Dembele's goal four minutes in. It felt as if Arsenal hadn't even touched the ball from kick-off, so mesmeric were the French champions with their passing.

Arsenal were chasing shadows for the first 20 minutes as PSG came flying out of the traps. Everything was moving too quickly for the hosts to keep up and the blue shirts always seemed to outnumber the red.

It is rare to see Arsenal so outplayed and outworked, especially at home.

There were parallels to PSG's quarter-final second leg at Villa Park a few weeks ago. They lost that game but went through on aggregate thanks to two goals scored in the first 27 minutes. Arsenal, like Villa, were blown away early on by PSG.

Luis Enrique clearly wants his team to blitz their opponents from the off to catch them cold. The pace they start with is unsustainable over 90 minutes, as shown at Villa, who came back to win the second leg 3-2 but just fell short of levelling the tie on aggregate.

This match followed a similar pattern. Arsenal were just unable to make their dominance count like Villa once the tide turned.

Perhaps the misfortune of playing the first leg at home was a factor. When Villa roared back into the game against PSG, they did so with the knowledge that they had nothing to lose, while Arsenal had to think about the return fixture.

Arsenal couldn't go all out as Villa had, but it was as if they had the handbrake on at times against PSG.

Comparing the dominance PSG had over Villa at home compared to the return leg, it doesn't paint an encouraging picture for Arsenal next week in Paris.

Partey's return can boost Arsenal and unleash Rice

One reason for optimism in the second leg for Arsenal will be the return of Thomas Partey.

The holding midfielder was suspended for the defeat at the Emirates after a needless yellow card in the dying stages at the Bernabeu, and his absence was felt immediately against PSG.

For the goal, Dembele drove straight through the area of the pitch Partey so frequently occupies, and Arsenal were punished. It all felt too easy.

Simply put, Arsenal are a better team with Partey in the side. On top of everything he brings individually, Partey's presence allows Declan Rice to be unleashed in midfield.

Rice was by no means disappointing against PSG when holding, but his role was certainly diminished.

His roaming performances across the two legs against Real Madrid were a coming of age moment for the midfielder on the European stage. Arsenal were crying out for something similar here.

Bukayo Saka aside, Arsenal were missing another real threat in the final third. PSG noticed it too, taking a risk by doubling up on the right-winger and leaving others in more space. The gamble paid off.

Rice may well have made them rethink that plan if he was free to drive through midfield. There were glimpses of it, but not enough. With Partey back, and Rice restored to the No 8 role, Arsenal can be a wholly different proposition.

What happened to Arsenal's set-pieces?

For a moment, it seemed Arsenal had taken advantage of their set-piece superiority over PSG when Mikel Merino headed in from Rice's second-half free-kick until VAR stepped in to rule the midfielder offside.

It was one of the rare occasions Arsenal put in a good delivery on Tuesday night, which came as a surprise given how much of the build-up to this semi-final focused on PSG's vulnerability in such scenarios.

In Ligue 1, nearly a third of PSG's conceded goals have come from set-pieces, a greater proportion than any other side in France. Yet, Arsenal couldn't muster up anything of note to trouble them at the Emirates.

Arsenal's rate of return from such scenarios has notably dropped off in 2025, which will come as painful timing for Arteta, whose side were scoring from set-pieces for fun earlier in the season.

They managed 12 set-piece goals in the first 21 league campaigns of the season.

Nicolas Jover, the mastermind behind Arsenal's impressive set-piece record, had to be pulled back by Arteta in stoppage time for going too far outside the team's technical area. Frustrations, it seemed, were spilling over.

PSG continue their English dominance

PSG have now beaten four Premier League teams - Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal - in this season's Champions League campaign.

Rewind to October, when they lost at the Emirates, and such a reality would have hardly been imaginable. Luis Enrique's team are unrecognisable. So much has changed since then for the Parisians.

Dembele, the difference-maker this time around, is the best illustration of this transformation.

For the last game against Arsenal, he was left out for disciplinary reasons and yet to discover the false nine position that has unleashed the best scoring season of his career.

This time around, he turned up as PSG's leading man and proved decisive, ending a six-game run without a goal for his club to score the match-winner on the biggest stage.

Dembele's fitness will no doubt be a key focus ahead of the return leg, with the forward potentially a doubt after coming off with a muscle injury in the second half at the Emirates.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Arsenal fail to rise to the occasion against PSG in Champions League semi-final first leg defeat