“We want to do something special,” said Mikel Arteta in the buildup to Arsenal’s Bigger Cup semi-final first leg against PSG, urging fans heading to the Emirates to bring their boots, their shorts, their T-shirts and everything but their dinner. “That place has to be something special, something that we haven’t seen.” While it is not known how many spectators heeded the call to go the full John Terry, they were certainly treated to the unprecedented sight of the world’s most underwhelming tifo hanging apologetically from the roof of the North Stand like a club-branded beach towel pegged to a back yard clothesline. Before one of the biggest home games in their team’s history, this quite dismal effort by the Arsenal hierarchy to generate some in-stadium vibes has been widely ridiculed and may have contributed to a curiously quiet atmosphere that was only exacerbatedby Ousmane Dembélé’s early gut punch.
Poor for the first 35 minutes and not much better in the final 20, Arsenal played reasonably well in betweenwithout ever scaling the heights they can, their players and fans often railing against perceived injustices visited upon them by a referee whose most controversial decision actually went in the home side’s favour and helped keep them in the tie. While it has been argued there was perhaps notenoughof a foul in that Jurriën Timber stiff-arm block on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to award a spot-kick to PSG, we’d almost certainly have heard no end of post-match bleating if the roles had been reversed and Arsenal had been denied what they felt to be their dues from 12 yards.
The PSG head coach Luis Enrique’s post-match assessment that “it could have been worse, it could have been better” spoke for the performances of both teams and as things stand, Arsenal remain very much alive before next week’s return leg. “We are at half-time,” parped Mikel Arteta afterwards. “We have a lot of chances to be in that final. As I repeat myself, you have to do something special in the competition to have the right to be in the final. And the time to do it is going to be in Paris.” Arsenal’s players and travelling fans can almost expect a far more hostile reception in the bubbling cauldron that is Parc des Princes than was afforded to their visitors in north London and, even if they don’t get a similar lesson in football dished out to several other Premier League teams in Paris this season, they will almost certainly pick up some tips on how best to design a rabble-rousing pre-match tifo.
Join Scott Murray at 8pm (BST) for updates on Barcelona 2-1 Inter in Bigger Cup, while Simon Burnton will be on hand at 8.15pm, when the WSL title could be sealed by Chelsea in their 2-0 defeat of Manchester United if earlier results go their way.
26 April:“I said before that as long as I’m wanted, I’m very happy. The way the fans have been supporting me, it makes me feel that I want to give them something back even more than the last two seasons. In any case, I am very calm about the job I have done and the fact that we have achieved what were difficult targets. I’m an ambitious person in the sense that I always push myself. I always want to improve. I have a contract and I want to keep improving. I enjoy my job here, enjoy English football, and am ready for more” – QPR boss Martí Cifuentes talks about the future after their penultimate game of the season, a 5-0 shoeing at home by Burnley.
29 April:“This is naturally a disappointing situation for everyone concerned. I fully understand and appreciate supporters’ frustrations at this time. As a club, we are working to ensure this matter is resolved as swiftly as possible so we can start preparations in earnest for the future” – QPR chief suit Christian Nourry hands Cifuentes some secateurs whileplacing the Spaniard on gardening leave, amid links with the vacant West Brom gig.
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Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenningand the rest of the Football Weekly pod squadas they discuss the Gunners’ defeat by PSG and more.
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