Arsenal's mission to make history in Paris

It's a fearsome task after first-leg defeat, but there are plenty of reasons the Gunners can salvage their semi-final.

- By Simon Collings

Gathering his Arsenal team-mates in a huddle before they faced Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, Declan Rice had a simple message. "If we don't have the ball, we die," Rice roared, as he competed with the growing noise inside Emirates Stadium.

For much of the first leg of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final, it looked like Rice's words would prove to be prophetic — but their European dream is still alive.

Mikel Arteta's side head to Paris next week trailing by a solitary goal and there will surely be some relief among those at Arsenal that the deficit is not greater.

Tuesday's defeat was bookended by PSG showing why their manager Luis Enrique views them as a "complete team". At times, their attack resembled a sprint relay team, such was their pace, and no more so was that the case than with Ousmane Dembele.

The forward's goal in the fourth minute, his 25th since the turn of the year, came after a move that contained 26 passes. That is the most for a goal conceded by Arsenal in the Champions League since data specialists Opta began recording more than 20 years ago.

It sums up the scale of the task that awaits Arsenal at the Parc des Princes. The Gunners beat holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu only a fortnight ago, but toppling this PSG team would eclipse even that feat.

"If you want to win the Champions League or be in the final, you have to do something exceptional in the tournament at some point," said Arteta (right). "That's what we have to now plan and do when we get to Paris in a few days."

History is not on Arsenal's side as they bid to turn this tie around. Only two teams have reached the Champions League final after losing the first leg of their semi-final tie at home, with one of those being the Gunners' arch rivals, Tottenham, six years ago when they beat Ajax in Amsterdam.