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Mikel Arteta's Arsenal must make history in Paris on Wednesday night if they're to reach their first Champions League final since 2006.
Never before have the Gunners lost a home first leg of a Champions League knockout tie and advanced into the next phase. Last Tuesday, amid the backdrop of divine north London sun and a vivacious Emirates crowd, Ousmane Dembele's early strike handed Paris Saint-Germain a significant advantage in their semi-final tie.
Despite the deficit, Arsenal should take encouragement from this competition's knack of throwing up the violently unpredictable. Comebacks of the ilk Arteta's side require on Wednesday have hardly been novel in contemporary times. We've seen five teams win the first leg away from home and subsequently get knocked out since 2018/19. PSG, laden with scars, have succumbed to three of these turnarounds.
No matter how slick Luis Enrique's side are, there's something within the club's DNA which renders them vulnerable to the Champions League's chaos. There's reason for Arsenal to believe, but, as I noted, they're not well versed in the comeback game themselves.
When was the last time Arsenal overturned first-leg deficit in Champions League knockout stages?
You only have to go back a season for Arsenal's previous Champions League knockout stage turnaround. The Gunners beat Porto on penalties in the 2023/24 round of 16 after losing the first leg away from home 1-0.
However, we're still waiting for the club's first comeback after losing the opening leg on home soil. They came close on a couple of occasions during the misery of the 2010s, with Arsene Wenger-led outfits missing out on taking ties against Bayern Munich and Monaco to extra time due to the away goals rule.
The Gunners admirably beat Bayern 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in the 2012/13 last 16 but had lost the first leg 3-1. They then inexplicably lost 3-1 at home to Monaco two seasons later (Olivier Giroud still has blood on his hands), conceding in the 94th minute after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had halved Arsenal's deficit on the night at the start of stoppage time. A 2-0 win away wasn't enough to send Wenger's men through.
There's been more success in the Europa League, with Arsenal making a habit of turning ties around after losing the first leg during their run to the final in 2018/19. They advanced despite losing away at BATE Borisov and Rennes. Still, such comebacks aren't of the magnitude Arteta's team require at Parc des Princes.
History thus isn't exactly on Arsenal's side heading into Wednesday's second leg, and the mood has been dampened further by Saturday's defeat to Bournemouth. The Gunners risk their season ending on a sour note after promising so much in the wake of their slaying of the 15-time winners. Logic suggests PSG will be involved in the Champions League final on 31 May, but this competition, especially at this late juncture, rarely accounts for rational thought.
The Parisians know all too well that anything can happen when Arsenal come to town for the second leg of the semi-final, and Arteta's men must be emboldened by their potential to make club history in the French capital.