Clarence Seedorf believes Arsenal had 'fear to win' against Paris Saint-Germain

Clarence Seedorf blamed Arsenal’s ‘fear to win’ for their 1-0 first leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Riding the crest of a wave after their 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, Arsenal were outplayed by PSG who took an early lead through Ousmane Dembele and were rarely troubled.

Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard had Arsenal’s two best chances of the night but were both excellently denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma; by and large, though, the visitors controlled much of the tie, giving the Gunners a mountain to climb ahead of next week’s second leg in France.

It was the first UEFA Champions League semi-final for all of Arsenal’s players on Tuesday night, and four-time winner Seedorf believes Mikel Arteta’s side showed a lack of experience.

Speaking after the game to Amazon Prime Video Sport, Seedorf said: “Winning some matches is one thing and winning the Champions League is another.

“I think the fear to win kicked in today; I’m an Arsenal fan in terms of how they’ve played over the years but the thing I’ve always said is for them to really elevate to that winning club, there has to be a shift in mentality and today I saw some elements that [they need] to get out of in the second leg.

“I saw Paris Saint-Germain doing what I expected Arsenal to do, knowing when to press high, go low and sit back and wait for the opponent to force a pass and then counter attack. This is how you have to play in the Champions League and I didn’t see that at all from Arsenal.”

2008 winner Wayne Rooney expressed his disappointment in Arsenal’s performance and claimed the ‘subdued’ atmosphere made things even more difficult.

“[PSG] were by far the better team,” said Rooney. “Tactically they were excellent, how they pressed Arsenal’s goal kicks and then went into a lower block when Arsenal had possession and tried to hurt them on the break. I think they got it spot on.

“For Arsenal I was a bit disappointed with how they played, disappointed with the fans as well. I think the fans against Real Madrid were excellent and really pushed the team; I thought tonight they were a bit subdued. It was almost like an anti-climax that Arsenal had beaten Real Madrid and they’re going to walk into the final.

“The fans had to be there for them tonight. The players have to show up of course, but I think on both sides it wasn’t good enough for Arsenal.”

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Liam Williams

• Arsenal F.C.
• UEFA Champions League
• European Football
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