Declan Rice denies making widely-reported comments ahead of Arsenal vs PSG clash
'I think that story got spun a little bit.'
It was widely reported that Declan Rice told his Arsenal teammates ahead of their first leg with PSG: ‘If we don’t have the ball, we die.’ But he is not so sure he did say that.
The Gunners were beaten 1-0 at home by the impressive French outfit last week and go to Paris with a huge task on their hands to reach the final.
Before the game in north London, Rice was speaking in a huddle with his teammates and it appeared that he said to them: ‘If we don’t have the ball, we die.’
Viewers employed their lip-reading skills to come to that conclusion, but he says that they were wrong to do so.
Speaking ahead of the second leg, Rice told a press conference: ‘Can I just put that to bed? I don’t think I said that.
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‘I don’t know how that come about, I read that after the game and was like “I’m not sure I said that.” Obviously a big thing got made of it.
‘I think I was just talking in general, like we obviously know PSG are a really good team with the ball and sometimes you are going to suffer but it’s about how you defend, how you stay compact and how you can hurt them when you regain the ball.
