PARIS (AP) — Once again, Arsenal will end a season without a trophy.
The Premier League team fell to Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on aggregate, failing in its bid to become only the third team in the tournament’s history to reach the Champions League final after losing the first leg of its semifinal at home.
Arsenal played well over the two games but lost twice against a rejuvenated and rock-solid PSG side. Arsenal has not won major silverware since lifting the FA Cup nearly five years ago in manager Mikel Arteta’s first season in charge.
PSG won the return leg 2-1 in Paris on Wednesday. Arteta was adamant when asked if he believed the best team lost.
“I think so. Especially for 160 minutes. They told us,” he said, referring to PSG admitting it, too. “It was a case of the most of the performance was there, but just the finishing of the chances wasn’t.”
Arsenal enjoyed most of the possession in Paris, had 61 attacks compared to PSG’s 26, including 19 attempts at goal.
Arteta was quick to point out that PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had been the best player in both legs with his decisive saves.
“He has won the game for them,” Arteta said. “We know that, to win a competition, someone in one of the two boxes has to do something special, to win it for you and make it happen.”
PSG coach Luis Enrique said Arteta “is a great friend, but I don’t agree at all.”
“They played in a clever way, but we scored more goals than them and in football it’s the most important thing,” he said. “They did great, we suffered a lot. It’s the match we suffered the most. But I think we deserved to go to the final.”
Arsenal lost the Champions League final to Barcelona in 2006 and in the semifinals to Manchester United in 2009, and had not been back to the last four since. Defeating defending champion Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals — after victories home and away — had raised expectations that Arsenal could go all the way.
“I can take positives and I’m very proud of the team,” said Arteta, who has guided his team to consecutive runner-up finishes in the Premier League.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
