Gary Lineker has claimed Arsenal’s limited attacking firepower is to blame for their Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal crashed out of the competition last night following a 2-1 loss at the Parc des Princes meaning they will go yet another season without a trophy.
Mikel Arteta’s side started strongly and piled early pressure on the PSG defence, with Gianluigi Donnarumma forced to make a string of impressive saves from Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
Fabián Ruiz opened the scoring for the hosts with a sweet strike before Achraf Hakimi doubled their lead in the 72nd minute.
Saka eventually beat Donnarumma to give Arsenal a glimmer of hope but it proved to be too late.
A lack of attacking threat was the key reason behind their loss, according to former England star Gary Lineker.
Arteta’s side started brightly but failed to take an early lead against PSG in their semi-final
Mikel Merino has been forced to play as a striker due to attacking injuries this season
Gary Lineker believes Arsenal’s ‘lack of firepower’ in attack was behind their loss to PSG
He told The Rest is Football podcast: ‘They started the game really well but you don’t need to be a footballing Einstein to work out what Arsenal’s problem is, and has been all season: A lack of firepower.
‘There were so many good little balls into the box with nobody there.’
Alan Shearer added: ‘Albeit they’ve come up against an incredible goalkeeper who made some fantastic saves, the one from Martin Odegaard down to his left was off the charts, a great save…
‘There were so many balls going into the box and I was thinking ‘come on, somebody’s got to make a run, somebody’s got to anticipate where the ball’s going’ and yeah, we’ve been saying it all season, about their need for a centre-forward. They know that, everyone knows that, and that showed again.’
Arsenal’s attacking options have been hampered by injury this season, with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus currently sidelined.
Midfielder Mikel Merino has stepped up to fill an emergency attacker role, which the Spaniard previously described as ‘crazy’.
The 28-year-old has won plaudits for adapting to a new forward position and played alongside Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in Arsenal’s front three against PSG.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown lamented the lack of a ‘fox in the box’, adding he expected ‘big recruitment’ at the Emirates in the summer.
Bukayo Saka scored to give Arsenal a glimmer of hope before missing a glorious chance
PSG will face Inter Milan in the final as they looked to win their first ever Champions League
‘It was just in that final third where you needed a fox in the box, someone who was going to really hurt them,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘There were times when PSG were counter-attacking and had real pace, but [Arsenal] didn’t have the same weapons to hurt them with.
‘I think that’s where the change will come. Big recruitment will come in the summer.’
Arsenal have been linked with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, Sporting Libson’s Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.
Meanwhile, in January they had a bid rejected for England and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
