Arsenal's Mission Ends 19 Years Of Waiting And Enters History

Arsenal want to take inspiration from a win against Real Madrid to beat Paris Saint-Germain (Instagram/@arsenal).

Declan Rice said Arsenal would need a miracle to reach the first Champions League final in 19 years.

The Gunners will face Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Thursday, May 8, 2025, early morning WIB, with the aim of reversing the 0-1 deficit in the first leg after Ousmane Dembele's goal in the fourth minute gave Luis Enrique's side an advantage.

Only two teams - Ajax in 1995/19996 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2018/2019 - lost in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at home and managed to reach the final.

Rice played a key role in Arsenal's success to reach this stage for the first time since 2009 after two of his stunning free kicks resulting in a 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

"I think the manager (Mikel Arteta) called him a magical moment. He always talks about someone giving magical moments."

"I think in the match against Real Madrid, obviously I was able to produce two incredible free kicks."

"But tomorrow, the semifinals are prepared for someone else who might have had that magical moment."

"Hopefully it's me again, but you'll need a magical moment to win the game."

"As a team, we will need it. The way they (PSG) move between lines is really very smart."

"However, as soon as we found out how to beat them, we missed some chances."

"It's just that, in terms of how we dribble, giving our wingers a one-on-one chance, opportunities are starting to open up."

"I think tomorrow we need to do the same. We have to have great courage."

"We have to perform on the biggest stage and show that we are ready to play at this level," Rice said.

Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney claims after the first leg in the middle of last week that Arsenal have a psychological fear of winning trophies after winning one FA Cup for five years Mikel Arteta on duty.

"We've seen it, they've beaten Manchester City several times in the league. They've beaten Liverpool a little closer."

"Now, they have beaten Real Madrid. There are obstacles they must go through," Rooney, who won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008.

However, Rice referred to the October 2-0 win over PSG in the group stage. Judging from the result, he is also optimistic that Arsenal will be able to turn things around.

"It was the same team besides Dembele and (Khvicha) Kvaratskhelia. Everyone started and we beat them."

"So, there's no fear. I think a goal in four minutes might surprise us a little bit, a little shocking the atmosphere."

"Even so, we found a foothold in the game again. We started creating chances."

"Kiper (Gianluigi Donnarumma) made some incredible saves. We are fully confident that we can beat them."

"Obviously it's not meant to happen, but we've seen enough. We quite know as a team that tomorrow we can do something really, really good."

"We are absolutely sure that we deserve to be at this level," Rice said again.

Meanwhile, Arteta urged Arsenal to take inspiration from a quarter-final win against Real Madrid, when they won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"We did it in a very convincing way against a very difficult opponent."

"The last one is very new, Real Madrid. Against all obstacles. Obviously they talk about all comebacks and history and what they (Real Madrid) do."

"We prove something very different from what they expected. Tomorrow, we want to do the same."

"We are just one step away from reaching the Champions League final. In the most beautiful city in the world, against a great team, nothing is better than that," said Arteta.