Rice puts his finger on the sore spot: "To be honest, a lot was missing"
Despite a 1-0 deficit from the first leg, Arsenal traveled to Paris with confidence, eager to make history. After the 2-1 defeat, however, it's clear: The Gunners will have to wait a little longer for their first Champions League title.
Completely fed up: Declan Rice is visibly dejected after the Champions League exit. IMAGO/Pro Sports Images
"It's going to be a really cool game, very special. We firmly believe we can achieve something special," Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said on Tuesday before the return leg at the Parc des Princes. But the Gunners were lacking one thing in particular: composure.
A look at the statistics says it all: 19 shots on goal: 11, an xGoals of 3.14 (PSG managed just 1.74), 21 crosses: 4, corners: 6, 2 dribbles: 20, and 54 percent possession – and yet the final score was 1:2, sealing Arsenal's exit. Of course, coach Mikel Arteta must have sorely missed the injured Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz as attacking options.
Praise for Donnarumma"To be honest, a lot was missing," said a visibly frustrated Rice after the semifinal exit on DAZN about his own performance, and he was probably thinking primarily about the offense: "We could have done a lot more. It's really frustrating. We had such a dominant start. If we take one of our chances in the first 15 to 20 minutes, the game changes completely."
While criticizing his own poor use of chances, the midfielder also praised the performance of Paris goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma . "It was one of those nights where the goalkeeper made incredible saves." Indeed, the Italian unnerved the English attackers with numerous excellent saves.
Coach Mikel Arteta also pointed to Donnarumma. "If you look at who was their best player on the pitch in the two games, it was their goalkeeper," said the Spaniard, noting: "He made the difference for them."
But then there were also his own incompetences, as the 43-year-old should certainly be aware. For example, Bukayo Saka's spectacular missed chance in the 80th minute, when he shot over the completely empty goal from around eight meters.
"It felt like it wasn't meant to be. We gave absolutely everything in this competition. We could have scored three or four goals in both games," Rice added, summing up the second leg succinctly: "Two mistakes from us, two goals from them. We had a lot of chances, but couldn't score. It's really frustrating."
