Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker agree with Mikel Arteta that one thing made difference vs PSG

Arsenal were knocked out the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain after suffering a 2-1 loss at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday evening, leaving Mikel Arteta with no silverware once again

Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker have agreed with Mikel Arteta’s claims that standout goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was the deciding factor in Arsenal’s Champions League exit.

It was always going to be a tough task for the Gunners to overturn a 1-0 deficit headed into their second leg of the semi-finals, especially given that it was played at the fortress of the Parc des Princes. And after a 2-1 clinic from Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening, Arteta and Arsenal saw any remaining glimmer of hope of achieving silverware in 2024/25 burn out completely.

Feeling hard done by after the defeat in the French capital, Arteta told the media that he felt his side deserved more, while crediting PSG goalkeeper Donnarumma for making the difference. He said: “First of all, congratulations PSG for being in the final.

“Talking about merit, I think we deserve much more. When you analyse both games, who has been their best player, the MVP, it has been the same player – the goalkeeper.

“And the Champions League is decided in the boxes, and he’s won the game for them because obviously today after 20 minutes, and what happened in London as well, the result should have been very different. So I can take a lot of positives and I am very proud of the team.”

And Arteta wasn’t the only one to praise Donnarumma’s efforts on the night, with Shearer taking to The Rest Is Football to analyse the game. He said: “Albeit, they’ve come up against an incredible goalkeeper who made some fantastic saves.

“I mean, the one from [Martin] Odegaard down to his left-hand side was off the charts, a great save. So you’ve just got to say sometimes, ‘You know what? Well done, great save.’

“But there were so many balls coming into the box, and I was thinking, ‘Come on, someone’s got to make a run, someone’s got to anticipate where the ball’s going.’ And yeah, we’ve been saying it all season about their need for a centre-forward.

“They know that, everyone knows that, and that showed again tonight. I know they got the goal late on, and [Bukayo] Saka missed a big chance to make it tougher for the last four or five minutes.

“But I think over the two games, I don’t think many people would argue [against] – albeit, they’ve had to rely on some great saves with Donnarumma – I don’t think many people would argue that PSG were the better side over the two legs.”

To which, Linker added: “Yeah, I think so. I think that’s fair. Very dangerous on the counter-attack as well, such great pace. But I think you’re right to point out Donnarumma because those two saves – particularly the one against Odegaard, I mean, that was a beautiful strike.

“I mean, for a huge guy to get down that low, that quickly, to fend off a shot of such velocity was just incredible. I think he’s probably, definitely favourite for the Golden Glove for this year – which he won of course when Italy won the Euros.”

Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal at the Emirates late last month to hand PSG a 1-0 advantage headed into Wednesday night’s second leg. And Donnarumma was determined to see another result through in the reverse fixture.

The shot-stopper was called into action early on when Gabriel Martinelli connected with a volley from the six-yard box, reacting quick to avert any danger just four minutes in. He was then called upon moments later when Odegaard hit the ball low and hard from the edge off the box to force a snapshot save from the Italian international.

Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring on the night with a thunderous left-footed volley from the edge of the area with 27 minutes played to make it 1-0, as Arsenal’s hopes of making it to the final dwindled further. David Raya was called upon in the second half when Myles Lewis-Skelly conceded a controversial penalty in the second half, with the Spaniard getting down to the bottom right corner to prevent Vitinha from doubling PSG’s lead.

However, Achraf Hakimi managed to make it 2-0 in the 72nd with a stunning strike from inside the area. Saka managed to pull one goal back for the Gunners four minutes later, however, it was too little too late for the north Londoners, who ultimately exited the Champions League 3-1 down on aggregate.

PSG will now go on to face Inter Milan in the final of the tournament later this month, after the Italian powerhouses bested Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate to stamp their ticket to Munich. It comes as just the second time in history that PSG will have played in a Champions League final, their first appearance coming five years ago in a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich.

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