Although Arsenal dropped away in the race for the Premier League title in recent weeks, with only one win in their past four matches, their form throughout the season has largely been good.

When playing away from home in the league they have won eight games, drawn seven and lost two.

Those two losses came in back-to-back away games against Bournemouth and Newcastle in October and November respectively.

The Gunners have lost only once away from home in the Champions League this season too, losing 1-0 to fellow semi-finalists Inter Milan.

The main criticism thrown at Arteta is that he is unable to get Arsenal over the line to win a trophy.

And the fact that Arsenal have failed to win any of their past seven semi-final matches in all competitions (L5 D2) and have failed to score in those matches will also dampen spirits heading into the match next week.

Merino, however, hopes not.

“Paris is a tough place to go, but we have always proved that we can compete against anybody and, with all due respect, I think we are going to win the second leg,” he said.

“We have proved we can win anywhere, the Bernabeu, and against any side in the Premier League, too, so that gives us a lot of confidence.

“The result (on Tuesday) changes nothing because the mentality of this team is always to win.

“The team is full of confidence, full of energy for the second leg, and we have the motivation to win this for our fans and for ourselves.”