“It’s just half-time. We go to Paris to win, and I fully believe that we can do it.”
🗣️ "The way we played, this is one of the best teams in Europe… Credit to the boys, but disappointed with the result."
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) April 29, 2025
Mikel Arteta speaks to @CarrieBrownTV after Arsenal's 1-0 first leg defeat.#beINUCL #ARSPSG #UCL pic.twitter.com/MPgUtZTuqm
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking to Amazon Prime:
“Disappointed with the result. 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.”
On PSG goal: “That is always the danger, credit to them. 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.”
On disallowed goal and chances: “Great timing, the margins, millimetres offside. The action of [Gabriel] Martinelli one-on-one, he has done that before. [Leandro] Trossard in a one-on-one and he [Donnarumma] makes the save. That’s the margins, that’s the level.”
Missing Thomas Partey? “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.”
Here’s the full transcript of his post-match press conference:
on tonight’s performance..:
We’re at half-time. Half-time and my message is exactly the same following us beating Real Madrid at home 3-0 – that we have to go to Paris and win the game. We are more than capable of doing it because I saw two very good teams with margins that are so small. They had efficiency in front of the goal and their keeper as well made a difference to see the result that we’ve seen tonight.
on whether our team was missing something:
Certainly, when you score a goal and concede one, you have to. But we did a lot of things very well as well. We had a spell in the first half and the game had phases. The first 15-20 minutes, especially them scoring so early in a great combination, playing when the margins as so small, the finishing is unbelievable. And then we had especially one issue that we corrected after 15-20 minutes and we sustained that for the rest of the game, which I think turned the game around. If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special and we’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there.
on what the issue was that he corrected:
I don’t want to say that.
on his thoughts on PSG’s performance:
That if we don’t correct that, it was an issue we had with the ball. In a very specific moment, you don’t have the chance to present. And if you don’t have the chance to present and they start to bring all the midfielders back, you’re going to struggle because that’s exactly what they want to do to you.
on what went wrong in the first 15 minutes:
Not a lot. I’m telling you it’s just something that is very specific but very important, especially the way we played. We corrected it and it’s not easy to correct it constantly but we did it and we did it much better. And in the end, we have two of our front players one v one with Donnarumma, if they scored the goal, it’s different. He made the saves like he did against Liverpool and Villa and that’s the difference in the Champions League, the margins are so small. We had a disallowed goal as well and another two big situations that happened in the game that didn’t go unfortunately our way.
on if the tie is still 50/50:
I don’t know the percentage but we have a lot of chances to be in that final and as I repeat myself, you have to do something, especially in the competition, to earn the right to be in the final and the time to do it is going to be in Paris.
on some of the decisions made by the referee tonight:
It was so clear, I don’t have to give my thoughts.
pn if the game was too stop-start:
No, I don’t complain. They are here to try to do their work in the best possible way and they certainly tried. Sometimes we can have different opinions about certain situations and that’s the case.
on needing control in every single minute against PSG:
You cannot. This is one of the best, beating all the English teams, the best teams in this country. You cannot dominate this team in 95 minutes. Impossible. Forget about it. You have to understand what it means dominating them and in which area of the pitch. We have to be very clear. Again, what we have to do when we cannot win it, OK, make sure that we take the game well again.
on whether the second leg performance needs to be significantly different:
No, I think the margins were so small, so I don’t think so. But if it’s significantly better, hopefully the result will be significantly different as well.