UEFA have already made mockery of Mikel Arteta’s claims about Arsenal in the Champions League

UEFA appears to disagree with something Mikel Arteta said during his post-match interviews following Arsenal’s 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate) defeat against PSG in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday, May 7.

Arsenal came into the second leg knowing that they must win in order to set up a final clash against Inter in Munich on May 31.

However, any hopes the Gunners had were quickly dashed when Fabian Ruiz unleashed a stunning left-footed half-volley past David Raya on 27 minutes to hand the home side a two-goal advantage.

The Arsenal ‘keeper did keep the Gunners in the tie by saving Vitinha’s 69^th-minute penalty, but Achraf Hakimi put PSG three up on aggregate with an impressive right-footed curled strike on 72 minutes.

Bukayo Saka’s strike 14 minutes from time was merely a footnote of Wednesday’s game.

After the match, Arteta, 43, claimed that "there [hasn't] been a better team [than Arsenal] in the competition” this term.

“This competition is about the boxes and there is normally the strikers and the goalkeeper, and he [Donnarumma] was the best player over both games,” Arteta told TNT Sports.

Despite the Italian ‘keeper being excellent in both legs, UEFA chose to award two other PSG stars the Player of the Match awards.

Vitinha picked up the accolade following last week’s first leg, while Hakimi, 26, was given the award on Wednesday.

Donnarumma masterclass 👏@QatarAirways | #LetsFly pic.twitter.com/2n2GNRMan4

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 7, 2025

Uefa.com states that “The UEFA Technical Observer panel at each fixture will decide who deserves to be the Player of the Match, with an official trophy handed to the successful candidate after full time”.

"It was a really solid performance, capped with a very good goal," the UEFA Technical Observer Group said.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice also admitted that Gianluigi Donnarumma was "unbelievable" when speaking to TNT Sports.

"We gave it everything, it wasn't meant to be," Rice explained. "You're in or you're out in this competition. Over the two legs, we could've scored more goals but Donnarumma has been unbelievable and it wasn't meant to be."

Arsenal return to Premier League action with a trip to Anfield, where they will face champions Liverpool on Sunday (May 11).