'Rice knew what was coming but PSG were too good to stop'

Declan Rice captured the mood and flagged up the danger signals in his final message as Arsenal gathered in a huddle before they faced the formidable challenge of Paris St-Germain. "If we don't have the ball, we die," Rice told his Arsenal team-mates as they finished their warm-up before the Champions League semi-final first leg at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are not quite dead in the tie, but they are definitely struggling to stay alive as they trail 1-0 going into next week's return in Paris - mainly because they were unable to carry out Rice's instructions in the crucial opening phases that shaped the game.

[Getty Images]Declan Rice captured the mood and flagged up the danger signals in his final message as Arsenal gathered in a huddle before they faced the formidable challenge of Paris St-Germain."If we don't have the ball, we die," Rice told his Arsenal team-mates as they finished their warm-up before the Champions League semi-final first leg at Emirates Stadium.Arsenal are not quite dead in the tie, but they are definitely struggling to stay alive as they trail 1-0 going into next week's return in Paris - mainly because they were unable to carry out Rice's instructions in the crucial opening phases that shaped the game.

Ousmane Dembele's fourth-minute finish across Arsenal keeper David Raya from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's delivery was the culmination of a 26-pass move. It was PSG in a microcosm, Rice's warning delivered in the most painful manner.To emphasise PSG's domination in the first exchanges, they had a total of 71.

6% possession in the first 26 minutes, the period of the game in which they threw a bucket of ice cold water over what had been a white-hot environment, laying the platform for the advantage they will take back to Paris for next Wednesday's second leg.In that same period, PSG had a remarkable passing accuracy of 86.5% in Arsenal's half, and the total ratio was 165 passes to 60.

In effect, when Arsenal finally read Rice's memo, the most important damage had been inflicted.Arsenal pulled it around, having 55.4% possession for the rest of the game, but Rice knew what was coming and PSG were simply too good to stop early on.

Read Phil's full analysis of the match here.