PSG pass masters make Rice and Arsenal's fears come true

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 the return in Paris - mainly because they were unable to carry out Rice's instructions in the crucial opening phases that shaped the game.

The stage was set for Arsenal's first Champions League semi-final in 16 years by an extravagant display of fireworks and pyrotechnics, all against the backdrop of a huge banner covering the giant stands emblazoned with the words 'make it happen'.

It was PSG who made it happen - and made it happen exactly in the manner Rice so clearly feared.

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.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: "We are disappointed with the result. We put so much into the game. We struggled for the first 10 or 15 minutes to get momentum and dominance but we are disappointed not to get a draw at least."

He praised the quality that to Dembele's goal, saying: "That is always the danger. Credit to them. They get out of a situation that is close. We had seven players behind the ball and they were clinical, sometimes you just have to recognise the talent of the individual."

This was a different PSG to the one that lost 2-0 in tame fashion here in October as the Champions League started its new league table format, and how it showed.

In the intervening months, coach Luis Enrique has fashioned a PSG side shot through with quality from back to front, while his personal attention has brought the best from brilliant teenager Desire Doue, while coaxing the best out of the enigmatic Dembele, who flattered to deceive at Barcelona.

And, in what might be the final flourish of the current move away from the so-called 'Bling Bling' era of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar, they added the young Georgia genius Kvaratskhelia to a thrilling attack.

The villain of PSG's piece at Emirates Stadium back in October was giant Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who received particularly heavy criticism for allowing Bukayo Saka's free-kick to drift in past him.

But since then PSG have cut a swathe through the Premier League elite, as Manchester City were beaten in the table format, Liverpool went out on penalties in the last 16 and Aston Villa followed in the quarter-finals.

And Donnarumma has been a key figure.

He made amends for his previous Emirates nightmare here with crucial saves from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard either side of half-time.

Arsenal will feel those opportunities will offer hope in Paris, but they now have to take the game to PSG with measure as they try to claw back this slim deficit. In those circumstances, however, the French champions may just find that approach to their liking.

There was frustration for Arsenal when Mikel Merino's smart header was ruled out after a Video Assistant Referee check early in the second half.

As PSG exerted such control in the opening half-hour, winning the ball back with ease as Arsenal reeled, it was easy to see why Rice once again called it right when he expressed such frustration towards his midfield partner and disruptor Thomas Partey for picking up a yellow card in the comfortable second-leg win against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, ruling him out of this meeting.

Rice's same words will no doubt echo in Arsenal's ears at the Parc des Princes - but some things are easier said than done and it may already be too late to save their ambitions of reaching their first Champions League final since they lost to Barcelona in Paris in 2006.

Hope will live on, but PSG have shown what a formidable proposition they have become. They will be firm favourites to face either Barcelona or Inter Milan in Munich.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40.