Declan Rice denies making brutal comments to Arsenal teammates before PSG defeat
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Declan Rice has moved to clarify reports claiming he delivered a dramatic rallying cry before Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, insisting he never said the now-viral line: “If we don’t have the ball, we die.”
The England international was seen speaking passionately in a pre-match huddle at the Emirates last week, moments before the Gunners suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the French champions. Many fans and pundits believed they had lip-read Rice issuing the stark warning, but the midfielder has dismissed the claim.
“Can I just put that to bed? I don’t think I said that,” Rice told reporters during Tuesday’s press conference ahead of the return leg in Paris. “I read that after the game and thought, ‘I’m not sure I said that.’ A big thing got made of it.”
Rice explained that he was simply stressing the importance of staying compact and organised against a technically gifted PSG side.
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“I think I was just talking in general,” he continued. “We know PSG are a really good team with the ball and sometimes you’re going to suffer. But it’s about how you defend, how you stay compact, and how you can hurt them when you regain the ball. That story got spun a little bit.”
Despite trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Arsenal remain in the tie and are heading to the Parc des Princes with confidence, buoyed by a strong second-half showing in London and the belief that they can turn the tie around.
Ousmane Dembélé’s fourth-minute goal was the difference at the Emirates, and while Declan Rice admitted the early setback rattled the team, he felt Arsenal quickly settled into the game.
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“The early goal probably shocked us a little bit,” he said. “It took us 15-20 minutes to get a foothold, but once we did, we started creating chances. Donnarumma made some amazing saves. We had full belief.”
He added: “In the second half, there was a blip when they hit the crossbar and put one wide, but we had some massive chances as well. I think tomorrow night is going to be a really good game. We’re positive and have full belief we can come here and do something special.”
Looking ahead to the decisive leg, Declan Rice called on his teammates to be bold and embrace the magnitude of the occasion.
“We need to do the same things again. We need to have big balls and go out there on the biggest stage to show we’re ready to play at this level.”
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