- Arsenal travel to Paris as they target a first Champions League final in 19 years
- Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the first leg to give PSG the lead
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Declan Rice has warned Paris Saint-Germain that Arsenal do not fear them and urged his team-mates to create a ‘magic moment’ to secure a first Champions League final in nearly 20 years.
The Gunners go into this semi-final second leg on the back of last week’s 1-0 loss to PSG with a final shot to salvage their season.
In the first leg, Mikel Merino had a goal disallowed for offside but the Parisians struck the crossbar late on in a match they dominated.
It leaves the north London club with a tall task tomorrow night, yet one they believe is well within their grasp after a string of impressive away performances in Europe.
Arsenal hammered PSV Eindhoven 7-1 at the Philips Stadion in the last 16 stage, before dethroning 15-time European champions Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the quarter-finals.
Rice said: ‘I think our second group game of the Champions League, we beat them [PSG] 2-0. It was the same team other than [Ousmane] Dembele and [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia.
Rice has warned PSG that Arsenal do not fear them ahead of their Champions League clash
Ousmane Dembele scored in the fourth minute of the first leg to give the French side the lead
Declan Rice scored two free kicks against Madrid to book Arsenal’s place in the semi-finals
‘Everyone else started and we beat them, so there’s no fear. Like I said, I think the goal inside three minutes probably shocked us a little bit, shocked the atmosphere a little bit.
‘But once we found a foothold in the game again, we started creating chances. We fully believed that we could beat them.
‘Obviously it wasn’t meant to be, but we’ve seen enough and we know enough as a team that tomorrow night we can do something really, really good and we definitely believe that we belong at this level.
‘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.’
Rice, who struck two impressive free-kicks to down Madrid, is looking for a similar moment tomorrow night.
He added: ‘The manager calls them “magic moments”. 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 semi-final 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. So tomorrow night hopefully we can deliver something special.’
In the first leg, Merino had a goal disallowed for offside in a game the Parisians dominated
Mikel Arteta spoke of avenging the 2006 Champions League final heartache against Barcelona
Dembele is available after recovering from a hamstring injury in a major boost for PSG
Mikel Arteta spoke of avenging the 2006 Champions League final heartache the Gunners suffered against Barcelona in Paris – the only time the club have made the final of this competition.
‘Yes, it will give us another opportunity and it brings you to places that are so related sometimes,’ said Arteta, when asked about the 2006 final defeat.
‘It’s a beautiful story, so let’s make it our own tomorrow.’
He added: ‘Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons, but at the point (tally) of the last two seasons we have two Premier Leagues, so you have to be in the right moment in the right place.
‘Hopefully here we are in the right moment in the right place in Paris tomorrow, to earn the right to be in that final.’
Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori both trained and are available.
Meanwhile, Dembele is available after recovering from a hamstring injury in a major boost for PSG.
