The Football News Show

Mikel Arteta returned to Arsenal in 2019 as their manager and won the FA Cup during his first season with the club.

But since then, he has not brought silverware to the Emirates Stadium despite being challengers for the Premier League title over the last few seasons.

After finishing second best in another title race, they are now one game away from the final of the Champions League.

So is this the biggest game of Arteta's managerial career so far?

Arsenal fan Alex certainly seems to think so...

What should Arsenal's game plan be on Wednesday? Attack, attack, attack? Or try and nick a goal?

Image source, Getty Images

"With all due respect, I think we are going to win the second leg," said Mikel Merino after Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to PSG in the semi-final first leg.

"We have proved we can win anywhere, the Bernabeu, and against any side in the Premier League, too, so that gives us a lot of confidence," he said.

His manager Mikel Arteta was also of the opinion that all is not lost in the Gunners' bid to win a first Champions League title.

"If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We're going to have to do something special in Paris to be there," Arteta said.

"We have a lot of chances to be in that final. As I repeat myself, you have to do something special in the competition to have the right to be in the final. And the time to do it is going to be in Paris."

Image source, Getty Images

Martin Odegaard has bagged an assist in each of his past three Premier League matches.

But the Arsenal midfielder has come under plenty of criticism from the club's fans over his performances in recent weeks.

With the Gunners falling well short of the Premier League title and his underwhelming performance against PSG in the first leg, some have even suggested Odegaard he should stripped of the captaincy.

Odegaard picked up an injury during the early stages of the season and looked to be at his best on return, but his form has fallen off since.

The Norway international has scored just twice in the Premier League this season and created seven assists.

In comparison, he had eight goals and 11 assists in the league during their 2023-24 league campaign.

Just joining? Welcome - we're bringing you updates from the Champions League semi-finals with the second-legs starting in just a few hours. It's Inter v Barcelona later and PSG v Arsenal on Wednesday. So what's happened?

• Arsenal trained a short while ago before flying out to Paris to reverse their 1-0 aggregate deficit
• Mikel Arteta has received a boost with Ricardo Calafiori back in training as well as Martin Odegaard, who limped off in Saturday's defeat to Bournemouth
• A fitness doubt from the PSG camp was hanging over Ousmane Dembele, but the striker - who scored the goal in the first leg - trained this morning and coach Luis Enrique has confirmed he is available for the match against Arsenal - we'll be bringing you all the details from the PSG camp shortly

We've got a bit more Arsenal insight to bring you and you can get in touch too - do you think Arsenal have what it takes to overcome the one-goal deficit on Wednesday? It's only one goal, right?! WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)

Julien Laurens
European football expert on The Football News Show

I think Arsenal will have to produce the perfect game, there's no doubt. They have to win that midfield battle, not make any mistakes.

I think for PSG, you have to be careful. At Villa Park when they were 2-0 up, they thought they had already won and they hadn't.

For me, the biggest threat is Partey making the team better. If PSG take the lead for granted, they could be very disappointed at the end of the night.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Although Arsenal dropped away in the race for the Premier League title in recent weeks, their form throughout the season has largely been good.

When playing away from home in the league they have won eight games, drawn seven and lost two.

Those two losses came in back-to-back away games against Bournemouth and Newcastle in October and November respectively.

The Gunners have lost only once away from home in the Champions League this season too, losing 1-0 to fellow semi-finalists Inter Milan.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Every manager wants their best players available but there is a question mark for Luis Enrique about the fitness of match-winner Ousmane Dembele.

He limped off in the 70th minute and was replaced by Bradley Barcola but trained earlier today after seemingly shrugging off a hamstring issue.

Dembele has scored 32 goals and registered 12 assists in all competitions this season and is one of their standout players.

PSG still have an array of attacking talent, though, and have the excellent Barcola, striker Goncalo Ramos - who hit the crossbar late in the first leg - Lee Kang-in and youngster Warren Zaire-Emery to call on if Dembele is unable to play the full 90 minutes.

We'll be bringing you quotes from PSG head coach Luis Enrique in a short while on Dembele's fitness...

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

PSG have lost to Strasbourg and Nice in their two most recent Ligue 1 games.

Aston Villa beat them 3-2 in their quarter-final second leg despite losing on aggregate, Liverpool beat PSG 1-0 in the last 16 first leg and Atletico Madrid were also victorious in the group stage at the Parc des Princes.

Of course, the pressure, teams and circumstances are different, but Mikel Arteta will have examples to study when setting out his game plan.

Arsenal have also picked up impressive wins in the competition themselves away from home, putting five past Sporting, seven past PSV Eindhoven and beating Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu.

And let's not forget that Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 in the league stage of the competition in October.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

One of the biggest challenges for Mikel Arteta to deal with in the first leg was the absence of Thomas Partey in midfield.

His suspension for picking up a cheap yellow card in the victory over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu meant Arteta had to rejig his midfield.

With the Ghanaian returning, it will allow Declan Rice to move back into the number eight role that he has excelled in in recent weeks and Partey will give solidity and structure to the base of the Arsenal midfield.

Rice moving back into a more advanced role may also help captain Martin Odegaard, who had a quiet first leg.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Even though Arsenal were pinned back for what felt like large periods of the first half of the first leg, they grew into the game.

Even though PSG had two good chances late on through Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos to make it 2-0, Arsenal had chances of their own.

Gabriel Martinelli had a good opportunity inside the area saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma before half-time and Leandro Trossard forced the PSG goalkeeper into an excellent stop after the break.

Arsenal had a higher expected goal ratio (1.65), than PSG (1.14), and more shots on target (5 v 4), while Donnarumma had to make five saves compared to David Raya's four.

They also had a goal disallowed after Merino headed in Declan Rice's free-kick in the second half, and those chances show that Arsenal could grab the goal they need to level the tie.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Arsenal might have lost the semi-final first-leg tie to PSG 1-0, but there were signs in that game that it remains in the balance.

Manager Mikel Arteta was quick to make clear in his post-match news conference that it is only "half-time" before the second leg in Paris.

Arsenal could turn the tie around and reach their first Champions League final since 2006.

Here are five reasons why Arsenal can still be in the final to be played at Allianz Arena in Munich on 31 May.

Arsenal

These are the key things to take away from Arsenal's training session:

• Riccardo Calafiori returned to training after a long injury lay-off
• Jurrien Timber trained after missing the Bournemouth defeat
• Gunners captain Martin Odegaard, who picked up a knock in that game, also trained
• Thomas Partey took part after missing the semi-final first leg through suspension

The Arsenal squad will fly to Paris later today, with Mikel Arteta scheduled to speak to media in the pre-match news conference this evening.

Tell us how you really feel Clyde...

Arsenal

The live coverage of Arsenal's training session has now finished.

We left the players as they formed a circle, holding hands as they tried to pass the ball to team-mates while being harried by a chosen few in the middle.

Like a rondo-ring o'roses hybrid.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta also had the speakers out, pumping up the volume and intensity with background music.

He will definitely need some 'heavy metal' football from his players to get the job done in Paris tomorrow.

Image source, Getty Images