Every word Mikel Arteta said on PSG defeat, Arsenal misses, referee calls and Partey absence

Mikel Arteta . An early goal at the start of the first half was conceded and then an early goal scored by Mikel Merino at the beginning of the second became the story of the night.

There were boos around the stadium throughout as the referee frustrated the flow of the game and made some controversial calls when Bukayo Saka was stopped from reaching a one-on-one while Achraf Hakimi avoided a second yellow card after stopping Gabriel Martinelli reaching the box having been beaten.

The message of it being only half-time was naturally there and being just a goal down the Gunners remain firmly in the tie. Thomas Partey was an obvious miss and he will return for the second leg.

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Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-match press conference.

What was your assessment of the performance?

We're at half-time. Half-time and my message being exactly the same. How it was against Real Madrid at home 3-0. We have to go to Paris and win the game. We are more than capable of doing it. I saw two very good teams, but the margins are so small. They had efficiency in front of the goal. The keeper as well made a difference to see the result that we've seen tonight.

Do you think your side was missing anything this evening?

Certainly, we don't score a goal and concede one. You have to, but we did a lot of things very well as well. We had a spell in the first... I think the game had phases. The first 15-20 minutes, especially them scoring so early in a great combination. When the margins are so small, the finishing is unbelievable. Then we had especially one issue that we corrected after 15-20 minutes. We sustained that for the rest of the game, which I think turned the game around. If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We're going to have to do something special in Paris to be there.

What was the issue that you changed on?

I cannot tell you.

It's very rare to see a team play that way and dominate Arsenal in that first 20 minutes, the way that PSG did. What was going through your mind at that point? Were you worried about where that might be?

That if we don't correct that, it was an issue we had with the ball. In a very specific moment, you don't have the chance to present. If you don't have the chance to present and they decide to bring all the midfielders back, you're going to struggle because that's exactly what they want to do to you.

I know you don't want to go into too much detail about what exactly you changed, but could you maybe help explain more what was going wrong in those first 15-20 minutes?

Not a lot. I'm telling you it's just something that is very specific but very important, especially the way we play. We corrected and it's not easy to correct it constantly, but we did it and we did it much better. Then at the end, we have two of our front players, 1v1 with Donnarumma. If they scored the goal it is different. He made the saves, like he did against Liverpool and Villa, and that's the difference in the Champions League. The margin is so small. We had a bizarre goal as well and another two big situations that happened in the game that didn't go, unfortunately, our way.

Is it still 50-50 in the tie?

I don't know the percentage, but we have a lot of chances to be in that final. As I repeat myself, you have to do something special in the competition to have the right to be in the final. And the time to do it is going to be in Paris.

Can I just ask you about two moments? The referee became a bit of a target, I think, for the fans in the ground. There was one moment where Bukayo Saka, in a one-on-one situation, the referee's whistle blows. The other one, Martinelli or Hakimi, has already been booked. Could you just get your thoughts on those?

It was so clear, I don't think I have to give my thoughts. Thank you.

We're in the middle of the game. What do you have to improve for the next game in Paris? And also, Wayne Rooney said he was disappointed with the atmosphere in the stadium tonight. What do you think about that? (Question and answer translated from Spanish)

There are always things to improve, but when you win, especially the result, especially the efficiency in the areas, because the margins are very small. They are two teams where you can see that everything is in a thread and each action can go from one side or the other. And it has to be on your side. We will surely make some adjustments, and depending on the context of the game, we will make more adjustments. And from there, we will go with a lot of enthusiasm, with a lot of desire and with the feeling that we can do it.

I know you don't want to talk about the referee. But maybe he stops too much the game. Is this your complaint about the referee?

No, there's no complaint. I mean, they are here to try to do their work in the best possible way, and they certainly try it. Sometimes we can have different opinions about certain situations, and that's the case.

Before the match, Declan Rice has picked up saying, 'if we don't have the ball, we die'. Was the message from you to your players about having control about every single minute against a PSG side?

You cannot. I mean, this is one of the best, beating all the English teams, the best teams in this country. So, you cannot dominate this team in 95 minutes. Impossible. Forget about it. And you have to understand what it means dominating them and in which area of the pitch. And we have to be very clear. Again, what we have to do well, and when we cannot win it, okay, make sure that we take the game where we want.

Will the performance have to be significantly different next week in the Parc des Princes?

I think the margin were so small, so I don't think so. But if it's significantly better, hopefully the result will be significantly different as well.