Arsenal could set a new club record in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg with Paris Saint-Germain, but even that may not be enough to save them from elimination.
The Gunners must do something they have never done before if they are to advance to just a second Champions League final this season; overturn a first-leg deficit away from home in Europe's top competition.
Mikel Arteta's men failed to deliver against the French champions in last week's first leg, succumbing to an early Ousmane Dembele winner before having a Mikel Merino header disallowed for offside in a 1-0 defeat.
Arsenal will head to the French capital as major underdogs to turn the tie around and advance to meet either Barcelona or Inter Milan in the showpiece match, but European games on the road have brought Gooners plenty of joy in recent weeks.
The North London giants have prevailed in each of their last four Champions League away games, defeating Sporting Lisbon and Girona in the league phase, PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal bidding for fifth straight away win in Champions League
© Iconsport
Should Arsenal win Wednesday's game, they would have recorded five straight away victories in any European competition for the very first time, having never achieved that feat in any previous Champions League, Europa League or European Cup campaign.
However, even breaking that club record may not suffice for a place in the final, if the Gunners only win by one goal and then suffer heartbreak to Luis Enrique's men in a penalty shootout.
Furthermore, only two teams before them have ever reached the Champions League final after losing the first leg of the semi-final at home, with Ajax the first to do so against Panathinaikos in 1996.
Over two decades later, Tottenham Hotspur repeated the Dutch giants' trick in their own backyard to advance to the 2018-19 final, 13 years after Arsenal came out second best to Barcelona in the 2005-06 showpiece.
The Gunners also head across the English Channel reeling from a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth, but Arteta did receive a triple injury boost in Tuesday's final training session.
Why Declan Rice will be critical to Arsenal's chances of advancing
© Imago
As well as the prospect of three injury doubts being passed fit, Arteta will welcome Thomas Partey back to the team with open arms after the Ghana international missed the first leg through suspension.
With Partey on the naughty step, Arteta was forced to drop Declan Rice into a deeper role as Merino and Martin Odegaard operated ahead of him, but the £105m man still made more line-breaking passes in the final third than any other player (6).
Rice will now have free rein of his favoured left eight position thanks to Partey returning to the number six slot, and the former West Ham United captain put in another midfield masterclass in that role against Bournemouth.
Furthermore, no Arsenal player has made more line-breaking passes leading to shots (7) or goals (3) than Rice in the 2024-25 Champions League, but Arsenal's first-leg loss highlights just how fatal that needless Partey yellow card against Real Madrid could be.
Ben Knapton
