Five reasons why a comeback in Paris is possible

We head to Paris for the second leg of our Champions League semi-final against PSG a goal down after the first leg last week, with Mikel Arteta admitting that something special is necessary if we're to advance to the final.

But special things are what we've been used to in this season's campaign, which have brought incredible highs during our run to the final four, and given our supporters plenty of reasons to still believe we can still take to the field for the showpiece in Munich at the end of the month.

We've dug through the stats to give you five reasons to be optimistic ahead of Wednesday's huge match:

SCORING, SCORING ARSENAL

Given we're 1-0 down, we know we need to score at least once in Paris to keep our dreams alive, but netting on our European travels this term is something we’ve not struggled with.

In all, we’ve hit the back of the net 16 times in our continental clashes in 2024/25, more than we’ve ever managed in any of our previous 21 Champions League campaigns, including seven at PSV Eindhoven, five at Sporting Lisbon and two famous goals in the Bernabeu to beat Real Madrid and punch our ticket to the last four.

We’ve smashed our previous best of 10 away goals, which was registered in successive seasons in 2002/03 and 2003/04, and which bodes well heading to the Parc des Princes:

Most away goals scored by Arsenal in a CL season Season Goals Games 2024/2025 16 6 2003/2004 10 5 2002/2003 10 6 2016/2017 9 4 2014/2015 8 4

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?

We can also take solace from the fact that in Champions League history, seven teams have recovered from losing the first leg of the semi-final to still make it to the final, three of which have come in the past six seasons.

In 2019, Liverpool overcame a 3-0 deficit to knock out Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate, and the following day, Tottenham Hotspur beat Ajax in the final few seconds to set up an all-English final. The last time was two years ago when Real Madrid netted twice late on to beat Manchester City 6-5 on aggregate in a classic two-legged tie.

However, only two teams have ever reached the final having lost the first leg of their semi-final tie at home, with Ajax overcoming Panathinaikos in 1995/96, and the aforementioned Spurs success in 2019.

Teams who have overcome a first-leg CL semi-final loss to advance Season Winner Opponent For Against Venue 1995/96 Ajax Panathinaikos 0 1 H 3 0 A 2002/03 Juventus Real Madrid 1 2 A 3 1 H 2006/07 Milan Man Utd 2 3 A 3 0 H 2006/07 Liverpool Chelsea 0 1 A 1 0 H 2018/19 Tottenham Ajax 0 1 H 3 2 A 2018/19 Liverpool Barcelona 0 3 A 4 0 H 2021/22 Real Madrid Man City 3 4 A 3 1 H

NEVER GIVING IN

Battling back from a first-leg defeat is a feat we have achieved seven times in our European history, including our 1969/70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph over Anderlecht which secured our first ever piece of European silverware.

We have also done it twice in the Champions League against the same opponent. We lost at Porto in the first legs of round of 16 ties in 2010 and 2024, before managing to advance courtesy of a 5-0 success at Emirates Stadium, and the penalty shootout success at our home last season thanks to David Raya’s heroics.

Our European comebacks after losing first leg Season Opponent Competition Venue Score 1969/70 Anderlecht Fairs Cup Final A 1-3 H 3-0 1970/71 Sturm Graz Fairs Cup R2 A 0-1 H 2-0 1978/79 Hajduk Split UEFA Cup Last 32 A 1-2 H 1-0 2009/10 Porto Champions League Last 16 A 1-2 H 5-0 2018/19 BATE Borisov Europa League Last 32 A 0-1 H 3-0 2018/19 Rennes Europa League Last 16 A 1-3 H 3-0 2023/24 Porto Champions League Last 16 A 0-1 H 1-0

And when it comes to comebacks, since Arteta was appointed in 2019, we have come from behind to win 23 games in all competitions, including six this campaign.

We found ourselves trailing to Everton, Southampton and Crystal Palace on home turf before recovering to claim three points on each occasion before the turn of the year, and since then we've beaten Brentford, Tottenham and Girona having shown our resilience to fight back from a losing position.

FAMOUS COLLAPSES

What is also interesting is that PSG could be nervy protecting their lead, given their recent history of blowing first-leg advantages in the competition. They have lost the second leg five times after winning the first in the past decade, including in the last round against Aston Villa.

While they escaped on aggregate on that occasion, those have led to some heartbreaking eliminations, with the most famous against Barcelona in 2017 when they threw away a 4-0 last-16 first-leg lead by losing 6-1 at the Nou Camp, including conceding twice in second-half injury time.

However two years later Manchester United won 3-1 at the Parc to advance to the quarter-finals, while in 2022 Real Madrid beat them 3-1 to deny the Parisians a semi-final spot.

NO HOME COMFORTS

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Remarkably, PSG have also lost all three of their semi-final matches on home soil in the Champions League, against AC Milan in 1995, Manchester City in 2021 and Borussia Dortmund last year, as they saw the opportunity to claim a first Champions League title agonisingly slip away once again.

What also bodes well for us is our record in the country, and we cross the Channel having lost just one of our last nine away games against French teams in the competition, and being unbeaten on our two previous trips to the Parc des Princes.

We have strung together four straight away wins in the competition - a fifth would break our Champions League record, and potentially PSG hearts if we do achieve something special in the French capital by taking another step towards claiming the biggest prize in club football for the first time in our history.

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