Arsenal needs “magic moments” to beat PSG
Declan Rice said Arsenal will require “magic moments” to beat Paris Saint-Germain and reach the Champions League final.
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Arsenal needs “magic moments”
The Gunners face PSG at Parc des Princes on Wednesday, as they aim to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
Only two teams — Ajax (1995–96) and Tottenham (2018–19) — have ever lost the first leg of a Champions League semifinal at home and still managed to reach the final.
Head coach Mikel Arteta said Arsenal needs to produce “something special” to clinch the competition’s final.
Rice played a key role in reaching the semifinal after converting two stunning free kicks to set up a 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid.
“I think the manager calls them magic moments,” Rice said.
“He always talks about having someone delivering a magic moment. I think in that game against Madrid, obviously I was able to produce two free kicks, which were incredible.”
“But tomorrow night, a semifinal is set up for someone else to maybe get that magic moment. Hopefully it’s me again, but you’re going to need a moment of magic to win a game, and as a team we’re going to need that.
“The way they move between the lines was really, really smart. But once we worked out how we could beat them, we missed a few chances, but in terms of how we were driving with the ball, giving our wingers one v one opportunities, chances started to open up.
“I think tomorrow night we need to do the same. We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we’re ready to play at this level.”
Draw inspiration from Real Madrid win
Arsenal previously beat PSG 2-0 in the group stage, and Rice believes that his side could seal the victory in the second leg.
Meanwhile, Arteta urged his side to take inspiration from their quarterfinal win in Madrid, when they beat Real 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“We did it in a really convincing way against very difficult opponents,” Arteta said.
“The last one is very recent, it’s Madrid against all the odds because obviously they were talking about all the comebacks and the history and what they did, and we proved something very different to what they expected and tomorrow we want to do the same.”
“We are a win away from being the Champions League final. In the most beautiful city in the world, against a great opponent, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
