The eyes of the soccer world were riveted on Tuesday evening’s Champions League semi-final first leg between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain. And the first leg was won by the Parisians 0-1 (video highlights Arsenal/PSG), at the end of a solid match. Gunners defender William Saliba stopped off in the press zone to talk to Canal+ journalists after the match:
Saliba “It’s not over yet.”
Did you expect it to turn out this way?
We’re a bit disappointed to have lost this first game. We conceded a goal very early on in the game and then we made up for it a bit, even though we suffered a lot in the first 20 minutes. We chased the ball a lot and by the end of the first half we were much better. We could have scored. In the second half, we played better and had chances, but they did too. That’s how the game ended. It’s not over yet, there’s another game at the Parc des Princes and we hope to win there.
Were you surprised?
No, not surprised. We knew they were a very strong team. We didn’t do very well, though, because we were outplayed for the first 20 minutes. You have to take the positives and wake up afterwards, but we couldn’t equalize. We mustn’t give up – there’s a second game and we know that in the Champions League a lot can happen.
Saliba: “We’re going to have to show we’ve got character”.
Did you manage Mbappe well tonight? Was it Dembélé who got away from you once too often?
Yes, once too often, he scored. He’s all over the place, he’s off the ball, sometimes he goes deep, he turns a lot, it’s difficult to score with a player like that. We can do better with the first goal and they did well. We’re going to look at this game and see what we didn’t do well, and take the positives to try and beat them there.
Should we focus straight back on next week?
Yes, of course, we lost the first game, but there’s a second game and we’re going to have to show that we’ve got character. It’s the Champions League, a lot of crazy things have happened, and we’re going to try to do the same for the next game.
