Arsenal told 'fear' led to PSG defeat as Mikel Arteta warned major change needed for Champions League comeback | OneFootball

Arsenal attempting to reach Champions League final for just the second time

Frustrating night: Arsenal were second-best against PSG in north London

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Ousmane Dembele fired PSG in front in the opening four minutes and the visitors could well have left north London with a more significant advantage, after Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos missed big chances late on.

Arsenal went close through Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, and Mikel Merino had a header ruled out by VAR for offside, but Mikel Arteta’s side were second-best and Seedorf believes the issue was one of mindset.

“Winning some matches is one thing and winning the Champions League is another,” Seedorf, who won the competition four times as a player, said. “I think the fear to win kicked in today.

“I am an Arsenal fan in terms of how they have played over the years but I’ve always said for them to elevate to that winning club, there has to be a shift in mentality.

Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring inside four minutes

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“I saw Paris Saint-Germain doing what I expected Arsenal to do, knowing when to press high, go low and sit back and wait for the opponent to force a pass and then counter attack. This is how you have to play in the Champions League and I didn’t see that at all from Arsenal.”

Seedorf was also frustrated with Arsenal’s start to the match, pointing to the number of fouls given away by Jurrien Timber as he repeatedly struggled to contain Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

“You have to be able to understand when you have to go press high, when you cannot and when you must sit back,” Seedorf said.

“Particularly against these PSG guys with lots of skill and quality. The thing I saw they are making a lot of stupid fouls when they are pressing.”

Arsenal will have Thomas Partey back from suspension in the second leg, after his absence in north London forced a midfield reshuffle and change of roles for Declan Rice and Merino.

The Gunners can take confidence from their win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the quarter-finals, though Wayne Rooney agreed with Seedorf that there is a deeper problem.

“I think for Arsenal, there’s a fear,” Rooney said. “Over the last few years there’s a fear, psychologically there’s a fear of just not getting over the line.

“We’ve seen it, they’ve ran Manchester City close a few times in the league, they’ve ran Liverpool a little bit close, now they’ve beat Madrid, there’s a hurdle they have to get over.

“You need to be successful to build.”