Mikel Arteta offers 'clear' reason for Arsenal's defeat to PSG | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insisted his side's injury record was to blame for their 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg.

A Gunners outfit missing Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus was downed by Ousmane Dembele's fourth-minute strike, giving Arsenal a huge mountain to climb in next week's return fixture in Paris.

PSG, meanwhile, had a full squad available to them. Luis Enrique's entire group have only been forced to deal with a total of seven impactful injuries all season, and Arteta argued that gave the French outfit an obvious advantage.

"Today, the margins were very small," he told CBS Sports after the game. "I think they started the game better for two reasons.

"The first one, because, they get out of our press after a lot of passes and sequences. Then the individual quality decided the first goal after we have some issues, especially what we did after regaining the ball, which against them is a key moment as well.

"And then the team was started to be better, better, and better. We have two massive chances, one-v-one chances. And at this level, the keepers and the boxes made the difference, and, he certainly did tonight.

"It's clear [why PSG were better]. They're very consistent. They go to the end of the of the season in April with all the players and the squad available at their best. And when you get to April, it's very important to have this."

Arsenal could not live with PSG / Michael Steele/GettyImages

With only one goal between the two sides, Arteta was adamant Arsenal can still book their place in the Champions League final with a positive result at Parc des Princes.

"We are at half-time, and my message is exactly the same as it was after we beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter-final," he explained. "We have to go to Paris and win the game, and we are more than capable of doing it.

"If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special, and we are going to have to do something special in Paris to be there. We still have a lot of chances to be in that final.

"We will surely make some adjustments, and depending on the context of the game, we will make more adjustments.

"And from there, we will go with a lot of enthusiasm, with a lot of desire and with the feeling that we can do it."