Theo Walcott identifies Mikel Arteta's biggest problem against PSG after beating Real Madrid

Arsenal boss has been warned that will be a huge miss when they take on in the semi-finals of the . Partey will be suspended for the first leg at the Emirates later this month.

The midfielder picked up his third yellow card in Europe this season as knocked holders out of tournament at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, .

Former Gunners star Theo Walcott has hailed Partey's midfield display during the second leg of that tie and believes Arteta will struggle to find a replacement as Arsenal do not have many midfield options at their disposal with Mikel Merino now operating as a makeshift striker.

"Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are definitely the two best teams in this season's Champions League, and the semi-final is going to be a completely different story to when Mikel Arteta’s side beat them 2-0 at the Emirates in October," Walcott told Match of the Day.

" hadn't really clicked then, but they have now. Arsenal will be ready for them, but I think they might miss Thomas Partey, who is suspended after his yellow card tonight.

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"He was so important at the Bernabeu, not just with the way he was getting back into the back-line and to help out with the amount of crosses he was dealing with tonight. Partey was also helping Arsenal to slow the ball down and to control the midfield.

"The PSG game is all going to be about the midfield for me and is now probably going to play a game with someone who he is less familiar with. Mikel Merino can drop in there, but that might affect the forward line more because of where he has been playing recently.

"This is what Mikel Arteta will be thinking about now, and he might tinker with a few things against Ipswich and , to try things out before the semi-final."

Despite Walcott's concerns, Arteta is feeling confident about his side's chances of success and he has urged them to carry their momentum into the semi-final clash with PSG. "The feeling that we have is our reality, basically," Arteta said at his post-match press conference.

"And in the feeling that I had before the game, when the players were transmitting and how prepared I could feel the team, that we are ready to compete against anybody. Now we have to continue to do that because I think we have some momentum now.

"It's certainly another massive step. Where we finished last year and the way we're doing it this year, the teams with their eyes on us and the competition, it's incredible. Big credit to [Madrid], it was my first time as a coach in that dugout and today I realised after three minutes in this stadium, anything is possible.

"They are specialists of creating such chaos and belief, and it's very difficult to understand really what's going on in the game and have certain certainty about how we controlled it. I think they showed a lot of maturity.

"It's been quite different before because it was impossible to be in any round because the club wasn't in the Champions League for seven years. So, that shows you the turnaround, and a lot of great decisions that the club has made and the contribution a lot of people have made to be where we are.

"It's a team that you can feel today how hungry, how determined and ambitious that is to go. We're going for more, for sure."

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