Declan Rice said Arsenal needed more magic moments to reach the Champions League final.
Paris: Declan Rice has already provided two magical moments that will be part of Arsenal folklore, who runs in the Champions League semifinals, but if the dream is not right against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, it will require more.
Arsenal headed to the Princes to trail 1-0 after last week's first leg in north London, with their second chance to reach the finals lost to Barcelona in the 2006 exhibition in Paris.
The midfielder scored two excellent free kicks in the first leg of the 3-0 quarterfinal and won Real Madrid at home at Arsenal before 2-1 at Bernabeu.
However, Wednesday's pressure added another gap, and Rice said he or one of his teammates would have to cause memorable moments again if Mikel Arteta's side wins and reaches the Munich final.
“I think the manager, he calls them magical moments. He always talks about them, and someone offers magical moments.”
“In that match against Madrid, I was able to produce two free kicks, which was incredible. But tomorrow night, for the semifinal itself, maybe someone who could get that magic moment. Hopefully this is me coming again, but you'll need a magic moment to win a game.
“Tomorrow night, hopefully we can offer something special.”
After four minutes at home, Arsenal was shocked as Ousmane Dembele hit the PSG and they were barely inaccessible to reach for 25 minutes. But the optimistic Rice prefers to remember the rest of that game, in which Arsenal strikes back strongly and has rejected multiple times on PSG Guardian Gianluigi Donnarumma, while also having a goal from Mikel Merino, who ruled out offside.
“I think the first 15 minutes, I think the early goals might have shocked us a little, and it took us 15 or 20 minutes to gain a foothold in the game,” Rice said.
“But once we started keeping the ball, we started creating some opportunities. Obviously, there were almost no spots, about 10 minutes away, they hit the bar and put a wide opportunity, but we also had some great opportunities. But we were really positive and full of faith and we could come here to do something special.”
Arsenal will boost Arsenal due to the availability of right-back Riccardo calafiori, while midfielder Thomas Partey was also suspended last week.
“(Partey) was totally calm. Playing with Thomas, I realized it was one of his best things.”
“It’s not always the recognition he deserves, but playing with him, he allows me to be a better player.
“Tomorrow night, we will need him and myself, but we also need the whole 11 because if we make the final it will be the biggest night in club history.”
Aspiring to offer another only FA Cup trophy since the 2019 catch, he said his team is passionate and energy about the tasks at hand.
“We are away from a victory in the final, let's have a conversation tomorrow at 9pm,” Espanyol said.
“It’s about being in the right moment in the right place.”
