[LDC] Demi-Finale retour PSG - Arsenal

With Partey returning for the second leg, Trossard was replaced and Merino was starting as the striker up top. Partey returning allowed Rice to play in a more advanced position, something we saw all season, allowing Arsenal to press more aggressively and get more players into the box. This was what happened in the first minutes of the game with Arsenal winning the ball high up on the pitch and forcing long balls from PSG's back line. This led to a move with Timber winning possession high up the pitch and finding Declan Rice in the back post whose header narrowly misses the goal. Donnarumma's early long kicks into the right flank allowed Arsenal to easily win the aerial duel with Arsenal committing more physical players compared to PSG's smaller, more dynamic wingers and midfielders. Throwings and corners were also advantages used by Arsenal. They also take an excessive amout of time while taking their free kicks, throwings when deep from the opposition's half. This leads for the opposition to feel more pressure as they defend the box for long periods of time. This pressure led to Arsenal's biggest chance of the first half with Odegaard forcing Donnarumma to make an incredible save. Arsenal's shape was also focused on giving PSG's center backs nothing to latch onto and isolating their wingers in a 1 v 1. Firstly Lewis Skelly would invert alongside Partey will Timber would move up in the half space on PSG's left back, forcing Kvara to help out more defensively against Saka. On Arsenal's left flank, Merino would meanwhile shift out wide closer to Martinelli If Arsenal needed someone on the right, it would be Odegaard allowing Arsenal to rotate and outnumber PSG's initial press which was focused on keeping a more man oriented system and was subsequently dragged out of position more frequently.
When starting from the back, the 2 center backs splitted wide and with Saliba pushing forward, he is able to find Timber and Saka in a 2 v 1 against Mendes, giving time for Saka to cut inside and find Martinelli on the left who won another corner. Arsenal's right flank was dangerous for PSG a lot of time, with Saliba having a lot of space to run into and gave Arsenal a lot of confidence that they could continue this pressure for the whole game. PSG's problems could be also aprtially due to Dembélé's absence in first half due to barely coming back from injury, forcing Enrique to come up with a last day solution. Only starting with the 16th minute, PSG started to find a decent spell of possession which resulted into a dangerous opportunity for Kvara after combining with Doué in the center. Whilst PSG's first attempts mostly came from long balls on the right, the focus started to shift more onto the left flank. But the true switch came with a more aggressive defensive mentality, not allowing Arsenal to build as easily as they were from the right flank. Kvara started to push forther up the pitch and even if it left Mendes in 2 v 1, by not allowing Arsenal to play out, it meant Arsenal couldn't exploit it. it was this increased pressure that led to an indirect free kick in the 25th minute with Kvara pushing on Declan Rice and being brought down, which led to Fabian Ruiz's goal. This change of pressure from PSG also changed how Arsenal went to buid. David Raya started going long more frequently. While Arsenal was able to win the aerial duels most of the time thanks mostly to Merino, the main problem for Arsenal in this game and for most of their season was the lack of a big threat in the box.
In open play, it was hard for Arsenal players to break PSG's defensive line. Even when Saka dribbled and crosses or passed, it was rarely met with a teammate who could finish off the move. The second half continued with relatively similar approaches. Arsenal was still looking toothless from structured attacks and exposed to counter attacks from PSG. While Arsenal overall dominated the midfield battle, PSG started increasing their chances coming from out wide. So it still left Arsenal exposed in certain situations. Saka was the only real threat in the box during the second half. After Vitinha missed a penalty, Dembélé entered in the 70th minute and immediatly picked the position of false 9 in which he was so dangerous during the first leg. Whilst he starts up top, his movements away from the defense as a false 9 makes him extremely difficult to pick up and also allowed PSG to move centrally more frequently, with Dembélé's assist for Hakimi to make it 2 - 0. Arteta tried to make som eadjustments with the introduction of Calafiori and Trossard and this helped Arsenal to score 1 goal after rossard's deflected cross landed nicely for Saka. Shortly after, Saka missed the chance to make it 2 - 2 and the match ended 2 - 1 for PSG, 3 - 1 on aggregate.