Mikel Arteta reveals mid-game tweak which saved Arsenal's Champions League dream | OneFootball

The Gunners boss pointed out a change he made in the first half

Tweaking: Mikel Arteta

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Mikel Arteta called for his side to produce "something special" in next week's Champions League decider against Paris Saint-Germain after a 1-0 defeat in Tuesday's semi-final first leg.

Arteta pointed to "fine margins" as the difference between the two sides at the Emirates, as Ousmane Dembele's fourth-minute strike put PSG in pole position to reach the final in Munich on May 31.

Dembele fired home to cap a fine PSG move and the visitors were outstanding for the opening 20 minutes before Arsenal rallied. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard forced brilliant saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Mikel Merino had a header ruled out for offside.

"We're at half-time," Arteta said afterwards. "My message was exactly the same as after Real Madrid at home [in the quarter-final], 3-0. We have to go to Paris and win.

"We're more than capable of doing it. I saw two very good teams, the margins are so small. They had efficiency from the goal and their keeper made a difference for the result we've seen tonight."

Arteta revealed that Arsenal "corrected" a mistake to turn the tide midway through the first half but, when asked, declined to say exactly what he had changed.

"Not a lot," he added, when pushed. "It's just something that is very specific and very important, especially to the way we play.

"We corrected it and it's not easy to correct it constantly but we did it and we were much better. We had two players one-v-one with Donnarumma, if they score a goal it's different but he made the saves like he did against Liverpool and [Aston] Villa.

"That's the difference in the Champions League, the margins are so small. We had the disallowed goal as well and another two big situations that happened in the game but didn't go our way.

"We have a lot of chances to be in the final. You have to do something special in the competition to earn the right to be in the final and the time to do it is in Paris."

Arsenal were missing the suspended Thomas Partey but Arteta suggested he was looking forward to welcoming back the midfielder in France next week.

"I think Declan [Rice] and Mikel [Merino] were enormous," he said.

"[Partey] gives options and a different threat. It gives us flexibility to change the game. It's half-time and we have a big chance to be in the final."