'I can understand his point of view'
"Nobody has rattled PSG like Arsenal did", but the Ligue 1 champions still "deserved to win", says French football expert Julien Laurens.
Despite having more possession, shots and a higher xG than Paris St-Germain, the Gunners still succumbed to a 3-1 aggregate defeat in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
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However, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta suggested that the better side had lost.
Laurens told the BBC Radio 5 Live Euro Leagues podcast: "He [Arteta] has to be positive. I can understand his point of view, his communication to pick up the players because they have a big game on Sunday against Liverpool in the Premier League.
"If you look at the stats – and we are all a fan of stats – with expected goals, they won the xG battle home and away. Across the two legs they had a higher xG than PSG. They had 20 shots at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night - no team has left that stadium with 20 shots. Nobody has rattled PSG like Arsenal did for the first 20 minutes of the game on Wednesday night.
"Overall, I still think PSG deserved to win. It was fine margins, but there was no way PSG or Arsenal were going to walk this semi-final, as neither Barcelona or Inter Milan would, because the teams are too good and the stakes are too high – it is not that simple."
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Guillem Balague added: "The argument I think [PSG boss] Luis Enrique was putting across is that his side were better in both boxes, which is something Arteta will admit, but the stats proved the performance of Arsenal deserved more.
"Donnarumma was man of the match in both games. There is a good argument why Arteta said that but I think he was reading the room. He in his head could sense that it was another year without trophies, failure was coming to get them and he was just defending his side."
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