Leandro Trossard disappoints as Arsenal suffer 1-0 Champions League loss to PSG

Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.

The Gunners had a disastrous start to the game, with Les Parisiens opening the scoring after just four minutes.

Ousmane Dembele was given the license to shoot from the edge of the box. He found the back of the net off the woodwork.

The Gunners could have easily conceded a second in the early exchanges. David Raya came up with a superb save to deny Desire Doue.

The game was more even following the opening 20 minutes, but Arsenal could not secure an equaliser against the French champions.

There were multiple disappointing displays and we were particularly unimpressed with Leandro Trossard’s performance in the number nine role.

Trossard had a passing accuracy of just 67 percent. He won only four out of 12 duels contested.

The Belgian star was guilty of losing possession on 14 occasions and squandered a big chance to put the Gunners level.

Declan Rice delivered a sublime pass on the run to Trossard. The forward was denied by a fine save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Gabriel Martinelli had a similar chance before the break, but he was probably offside in the lead-up.

Trossard was handed the centre-forward role yesterday as Mikel Merino played in central midfield due to Thomas Partey’s suspension.

The £25 million-rated star will most likely drop to the bench for the second leg at the Parc des Princes next Wednesday.

Partey is poised to return in the number six role which should see Declan Rice move into a central midfield position.

Merino is expected to lead the attack with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka on the wings.

Martin Odegaard was equally disappointing as Trossard yesterday, but manager Mikel Arteta is unlikely to drop his captain.

The Norwegian is the most creative playmaker in the squad and needs to step up to turn the tie in the Gunners’ favour.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com