What Mikel Arteta shouted for Arsenal and how Bukayo Saka responded as PSG use bizarre tactic

Arsenal vs Paris Saint-Germain Vol.1 was a tale of two goalkeepers, and some good and bad finishing. It was a night of opportunity, excitement, and nerves.

It felt like that as well. North London Forever, the new favourite song, has never been sung so loud.

A lot of the optimism was quickly tempered when Ousmane Dembele continued his remarkable form in 2025. His delightful left-footed finish gave PSG a vital early lead and set the tempo for a treat of a match which had chances and drama.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, who kept PSG in the second leg against Aston Villa after his team had tried to throw away a 5-1 lead, was inspired. He pulled out two big stops to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

David Raya, to his own credit, also had a big part to play. When PSG were making Arsenal dizzy with passes at the beginning, he was sharply down to his right to parry away Desire Doue's goalbound strike.

The second half was less eventful. That seemed to take some of the life out of the ground and the hope turned to nervousness.

Arsenal could have conceded twice late on as PSG spurned good chances through Goncalo Ramos and Bradley Barcola. Their missed shots left Arsenal in the tie and plenty to play for next week in Paris. Both sides will believe that the scoreline might easily have been different and more in their favour. That is what it so engrossing.

Here, football.london goes through some of the finer moments from a largely frantic night in north London.

Rice's commanding role

Declan Rice was the man of the match in both quater-final legs and not just for his sweet pair of free-kicks. That was enough to win the home match but it was his territorial and total dominance in midfield that got Arsenal through in Madrid.

He was absolutely everywhere and outplayed Jude Bellingham. His power and energy helped Arsenal control things both with and without the ball.

This was a different matter entirely. : "If we don't have the ball we die." That was definitely the case.

PSG played the game on fast-forward, shifting possession across the field and between the thirds. They bamboozled Arsenal and took an early lead. With most red shirts already on the edge of the box, Dembele found an alarming amount of room and finished perfectly.

After such a big buildup, the Emirates Stadium was momentarily shocked. Arsenal players looked confused as well. Rice, playing leader, as he always does, was on the case immediately to call for his teammates to relax and calm down.

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He put his hands out in front and pushed his palms down in the cooling motion. He put his thumbs up and said 'calm' to those around him. It took another 15 minutes before Arsenal really did find their feet in the game and it took Rice getting on the ball for it to happen. Given his form and European performances, this is no surprise.

As well as Rice, Martin Odegaard tried to drum up his team throughout. In the second minute he rallied behind the players and crowd after a pressure led to PSG winning a throw in. Arsenal's intent was clear though and Odegaard played conductor later on in the half when an ambitious long ball to went straight out of play.

Odegaard was clapping above his head to signal his happiness with the attempt and the idea. Arteta was giving similar gestures throughout. With the aim of creating calmness, it actually gave off the sense of immense nerves and didn't seem to help anybody settle.

Arteta's emotions boiled over again in the second half when Saka was not awarded a free-kick just outside the PSG box. The Arsenal boss was furious and threw his arms up, shouting on the touchline. He went bonkers, not for the first time, and was left in disbelief.

When PSG regained the ball and Desire Doue tried to get one past Myles Lewis-Skelly with a neat piece of skill, Arteta actually had to be held back by the fourth official as he was so close to going onto the pitch.

With 82 minutes gone he leapt off the floor again to chase down the fourth official, gesticulating and shouting after a handball decision allowed PSG out of a corner. The referee was close and was having none of Arteta's antics even with the head coach practically on the grass. It was an eventful night for the Spaniard.

Saka role reversed

If there was a specific battle to sum up the flow of the game and how it changed then it was the positioning of Bukayo Saka. For the opening 25 minutes he was more likely to be found on the edge of his own box than in the PSG half.

He was forced to double up on Khvicha Khvaratskhelia, jockeying closely with Jurrien Timber, and making it hard work for the PSG winger. This is the sort of situation Saka himself is usually met with but here, the roles were reversed.

Such was PSG's electric movement and pace, Saka had no choice but to bunker up. It is notable that he was inside his own penalty area by the time Dembele scored. He was the player closest to closing Dembele down but ended up running into the referee, Slavko Vincic.

However, as the game progressed, Saka's prominence turned. He was running at the PSG defence for the final 15 minutes of the first half and started to cause his own damage.

Cutting inside twice in a matter of moments he first aimed a shot towards Gianluigi Donnarumma and although it was straight at the goalkeeper, it was an indication of what was to come. Saka then found himself on the left and crossed towards Martinelli at the back post but it was slightly out of reach.

By the end of the half it was Khvaratskhelia who had been pushed back into his defensive third. Such was Saka's influence, he even managed to pick up a booking.

Judged to have fouled Nuno Mendes when chasing a ball into the corner flag, Saka set himself free and into the PSG area when he heard the whistle blow. Angered by the decision, he kicked the ball away and was booked.

It was a moment of frustration for everyone as the referee came under pressure from all sides of the ground. Saka even being that high up the pitch was a shift in momentum and showed how Arsenal had come back into the game.

PSG's bizarre tactic

It was met with a mocking cheer by the home crowd but PSG's first action of the game was to hand the ball straight to Arsenal. They kicked off and the sent a diagonal ball into the left wing area.

With no PSG player close as it was fired out of play, the tactic from Enrique's side look completely confused. Had it been a breakdown in communication? Was it an early sign of nerves?

For a team so heavily built around possession, conceding it like this was incredibly odd. However, there is a possible explanation. As seen by Bournemoiuth this season, some sides will surrender the ball in a bid to create a position for a high-press scenario.

It didn't really play out like that but could be the thinking behind a low quality piece of football in high-quality game.