Declan Rice: 'Arsenal need a moment of magic to beat PSG'

Early tomorrow morning (Vietnam time), Arsenal will travel to PSG's Parc des Princes with the mission of overturning a 0-1 defeat in the first leg. Ousmane Dembele's only goal in the 4th minute gave PSG a slim advantage ahead of the second leg.

Statistically, only two teams in Champions League history have lost at home in the first leg of a semi-final but still progressed to the final – Ajax in 1995/96 and Tottenham in 2018/19.

Rice has been a key figure in Arsenal's run this season, particularly with two superb free-kicks contributing to the 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

“The manager calls them magical moments. He always stresses that the team needs someone who can create those moments,” Rice said. “Against Real Madrid, I did that. And the semi-finals are where other magical things can happen. I hope I can do it again.”

Before the match, former MU striker Wayne Rooney commented that Arsenal are having psychological problems in the title race. Under coach Mikel Arteta, the "Gunners" have only won one FA Cup in 5 years.

“They have chased Man City many times, caused difficulties for Liverpool and just eliminated Real Madrid. But there is still a big barrier to overcome," commented Rooney - the 2008 Champions League champion.

Rice, however, disagrees. He points to Arsenal's 2-0 win over PSG in October in the group stage. "At that time, PSG had almost the same squad, except for Dembele and Kvaratskhelia. We beat them, so there was no reason to be scared," he said.

“The early goal in the first leg stunned us and dampened the mood. But then we got back into the game and created chances. Obviously the result wasn’t what we wanted, but we’ve seen enough to believe we can do something special tomorrow night. And more importantly, we believe we deserve to be here,” Rice said.

As for coach Mikel Arteta, he called on his players to take inspiration from the 2-1 victory in the second leg of the quarter-finals at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid.

“We won convincingly against a very strong opponent. At that time, everyone talked about Madrid's history, about their great comebacks. But we proved something completely different. And tomorrow night, we want to do the same," coach Arteta expressed his determination.

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/declan-rice-arsenal-can-khoanh-khac-ky-dieu-de-danh-bai-psg-post1740190.tpo