%20rotate(-8.06)%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22336.19%20136.81%20330.16%2094.25%20326.06%2071.19%20326.44%2071.13%20335.22%2093.54%20352.29%20134.52%20373.95%20131.46%20362.7%2052.01%20350.02%2053.8%20356.05%2096.36%20360.15%20119.42%20359.77%20119.48%20350.99%2097.08%20333.91%2056.09%20312.25%2059.15%20323.51%20138.6%20336.19%20136.81%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22402.91%2059.3%20412.36%20126.02%20427.17%20123.92%20417.72%2057.21%20431.59%2055.24%20429.79%2042.51%20387.23%2048.53%20389.04%2061.27%20402.91%2059.3%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22463.51%20118.77%20458.69%2084.71%20474.68%2082.44%20479.51%20116.5%20494.36%20114.4%20483.11%2034.95%20468.26%2037.06%20472.96%2070.25%20456.96%2072.52%20452.26%2039.32%20437.4%2041.43%20448.65%20120.88%20463.51%20118.77%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22540.5%20107.87%20538.77%2095.68%20518.91%2098.49%20515.77%2076.29%20535.63%2073.47%20533.93%2061.5%20514.07%2064.32%20511.11%2043.42%20530.98%2040.61%20529.25%2028.42%20494.53%2033.34%20505.78%20112.78%20540.5%20107.87%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22299.03%20155.17%20301.29%20171.58%20542.78%20138.39%20540.5%20121.97%20299.03%20155.17%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Arsenal beat PSG in the early Champions League phase, now it must do it again.
Make no mistake about it, Arsenal knows exactly what opportunity is in front of it against PSG in the first leg of its Champions League semi-final.
You can't win the tie in the first leg, but you can certainly lose it, and the Gunners, after beating PSG 2-0 earlier in the competition, will need lightning to strike twice.
As we stated prior to the Real Madrid quarter-final, the Gunners, at worst, must go into the second leg even. Ahead on aggregate would be the perfect result, in truth, a 3-0 win again would be great as the Gunners could relax in the second leg as it did against Real Madrid.
The Gunners know that much like Madrid, they can't go to Paris and be forced to win the game to progress - that' s nightmare fuel and not to mention PSG have lost just once in the league all season.
And that brings on a whole new level of pressure because at this stage of the competition, even across two legs, one, maybe two goals could settle the tie.
Can lightning strike twice in first leg?
Putting it simply, it has to, right?
A similar performance to that of Real Madrid would be perfect, and we aren't sure if the Gunners have that in their locker again as that was perhaps the best 90 minutes of football under Arteta ever.
But that's the bar.
Get near that, and you're in good shape, and one step closer to creating history as the first Arsenal team to potentially win the competition.
"You feel it, especially because we have fortunately a lot of people who have worked in the club for many, many, many years and they've never been in this position," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "So that tells you how unique and beautiful it is. It's the nicest competition for any European club. We've never done it, so we need to earn the right to be in that final and everything is going to start tomorrow."
It is a colossal challenge for Arsenal, but after its Madrid exploits, it's one it can easily move past.
The mental games early on with the pressure and magnitude of the occasion will be tough to navigate, but do that, and remain in the game, the Emirates faithful will be all gas no brakes in willing this team towards a first leg win.
And based on the opponent, we feel it is needed in order to progress.