Before PSG. So near, yet so far..

Only three steps away from making history

Arsenal have reached the semi-final stage on the third time in our history and trust me, I've got the grey hairs to prove I remember every single one

Our first semifinal was in the famous 05/06 season. After beating Real Madrid and Juventus I was very confident we won’t have any problems against Villareal. The tie was decided by a single goal and the stockpiles of Valium in drugstores were emptied after Jen Lehmann saved a penalty from Riquelme in the very last moment of the second leg. My heart did a little dance, then needed a lie-down. We got to the final, but "comfortable victory" it was not.

Then came 2008/09, and we had the misfortune of bumping into a Manchester United side with Cristiano Ronaldo in full "look at me, I'm brilliant" mode. Although I hoped for all kinds of miracles, deep inside I was not very optimistic about our chances given that Man United form. In the end we lost the duel without any significant chances of going through.

This is only our third time, so by Arsenal standards it s a truly historic moment. Previous CL experience made me come to the conclusion that it's usuall a very careful game from both sides. Especially in the case of opponents having comparable individual level. The semifinals are usually decided either by a blunt mistake or by a moment of individual brilliance - just as it happened with Rice free kicks in the quarter final. Declan has already produced magical moments in this campaign, maybe someone else fancies a bit of sorcery tomorrow?

The semifinal four

This season semifinals are extremely interesting. Four teams from four different countries, each with their own style and their own strengths and all of them with an absolutely real chance to win the competition. Barcelona and Inter have their very clear own strong and weak sides. Against Barcelona we could limit the space for their attackers and exploit their inexperienced and adventurous defensive line. Against inter we could control the ball majority of the time and probably decide the result of a semi final question by a single goal.

But PSG are a more balanced team - their defenders are mobile and agile and capable of producing pretty decent performances, their attackers are very explosive and their midfield is ready to work hard in the game. What we can offer them instead - is physical dominance, especiallyl in midfield and some danger from set pieces (rumour has it, they concede more from those than an average Sunday league team). We're not as dangerous without Gabriel but we still have a couple of names who can be threatening. The benefit of playing in Europe is that they have not experienced our routines much. They can prepare by watching the clips, but it’s not the same unless it is all tried on the pitch, so it’s a shame we already had a little dance with them in the group stage.

You could probably pick our starting XI by listening (bar any unexpected events), but it’s hard to omit the fact that we’ll play without Thomas Partey. If I had a magic wand and could choose which leg he missed, it'd probably be this home one. We know Merino is going to play in midfield and Trossard at false nine. At home we’re expected to have more possession and the ecstatic crowd will drive the team forward, so it could be beneficial to have one more skilful midfielder helping to unlock their defence, rather than in an away leg where we might have to primarily focus on shutting them down.

Luis Enrique is a great coach and I'm pretty sure he will prepare something special for us,  especially given that he’s already lost once this season at the Emirates. One of the potential options could be to put the squeeze on Declan Rice with their active press. Rice's a fantastic player, but he's not quite as silky on the turn as Thomas, so they might see him as a weak link in our build-up. What we can do - is to get Odegaard dropping deeper than a politician's approval ratings to help beat the press. Martin hasn't been great in front of goal lately, but he's still got the vision to distribute the ball properly from those deeper areas.

The strong belief

PSG has became stronger and stronger team as the CL season went and in the last two defeats against English opponents they were actually a stronger side.

But the most crucial thing, the real game-changer from just a fortnight ago, is the belief. Before the quarter final I was extremely worried - I didn't see any feasible chances of us winning the competition. But now after we dismantled Real Madrid in two legs, I am more excited than worried about the game tomorrow. And I reckon the players will be feeling the same. We started both Madrid games looking a bit shaky - misplaced passes, lost possessions, ball given away. It was clearly due to lack of winning experience at this stage, but I don't think this should be the case tomorrow.

For every strong European team, bar a handful of exceptions, the Champions League semi-final is a very rare opportunity. So let's all make sure tomorrow we do everything needed to grab this opportunity with both hands and not let go!

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