PSG’s Champions League Victory Over Arsenal Deepens Arteta’s Trophy Struggles
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal suffered a loss to PSG in the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday. After coming in with a one-goal deficit following their loss at home in the first leg, it always looked too much to climb for the Gunners in Paris.
Mikel Arteta, who took over Arsenal in 2019, will face yet another trophyless season following their exit from the UCL. Winning the Community Shield back in 2023, Arteta has had very less to show in the trophy cabinet. As the 2024/25 season will also commence without any silverware, the Gunners would be reevaluating their success over the years under Arteta.
Arsenal has easily been one of the most successful English clubs in the past five years in terms of points. Arteta has seen his side finish in the top three of the Premier League and yet has nothing to show in the trophy cabinet. With Liverpool exceeding everyone’s expectations in the 2024/25 campaign, the margin has kept increasing since the beginning of 2025.
Talking in his pre-match conference against PSG, Arteta termed the past few weeks amazing. Wanting to have more options and how the defeat hurts, Arteta said:
“We had an amazing performance, but it has to hurt a lot. It’s not enough to say ‘yeah, we were very close, we competed so well, we were better than them for most of the game’.
“It has to hurt because if not, it will happen again. We have to make more things and have more availability, and we have to have more options. That’s the next step.”
Following their exit from the Champions League, Arteta expressed belief in his squad for next year. Emphasising learning from their mistakes, the Spanish manager said he was proud of his squad’s efforts.
Arsenal, competing in the Champions League consistently, had one of their most successful campaign this season. Making it to their first UCL semifinal since 2009, Arteta had the hopes of North London on his shoulders. However, given the form and flair PSG has displayed, it was always going to take something extraordinary.
Taking positives from the season like the Real Madrid triumph and the 4-0 Manchester City win, Arteta will move to his eighth year as the Gunners’ manager next season. Winning three trophies (2x FA Cup and Community Shield), Arteta will be keen to add some major jewels to the club’s cabinet.
With some more recruitment that could provide depth to the squad, Arsenal are not very far from becoming a complete team. With the gaining experience at high-stakes games for the youngsters, the English side will be keen to come in strong as ever in the next campaign.
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