Third in the Premier League after six days, the Gunners are coming off an epic success against Leicester on Saturday (4-2), a painful victory which gives Mikel Arteta’s players plenty of confidence. The mission certainly promises to be tough for PSG at the Emirates Stadium – where 3,000 Parisian supporters are expected -, far from the Parc des Princes where Paris was always more serene than away last year in the group stage of the Champions League.
Fortunately, the attractive Parisians resumed their good offensive habits against Rennes on Friday (3-1), leaving behind the last two sluggish matches: a draw against Reims (1-1) and a narrow victory against Girona (1 -0).
“They are very strong, they are exceptional, it is an exceptional team. They dominate all phases of the game, it’s a team that has very clear intentions, that wants to dominate the ball,” Arsenal’s Spanish coach Mikel Arteta, a former midfielder who played for PSG, said on Monday.
Feedback welcome
Apart from the surprise absence of Ousmane Dembélé following a “technical decision”, Luis Enrique will benefit from the return of several players who filled the infirmary in recent days, knowing that injury management is a central axis of his work at the heart of a long and intense season.
Preserved in recent days, Vitinha, Donnarumma, Mendes, Asensio and Doué make their return to the PSG group, which still has to deal with the long absences of Hernandez, Kimpembe and Ramos. To see Vitinha, Marco Asensio and Nuno Mendes lined up, it will depend on how they feel over the next twenty-four hours. Forfeited against Girona and replaced by Russian recruit Matvey Safonov, Gianluigi Donnarumma (thigh) is applying for a starting place in London, where the Parisians will have to be extra vigilant on set pieces, their weak point.
A real test
This will certainly be the key sector for Paris because Arsenal are one of the most effective European teams currently in this area. Made up of a young collective like the Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves who celebrated his 20th birthday this weekend, the French winger Bradley Barcola (22 years old) and the Ecuadorian defender Willian Pacho (22 years old), Paris must now confirm in major European meetings.
This meeting should give clues about the potential of the Parisian team, one of the youngest in Europe and which is now playing without a big star after the departures of Neymar, Messi (2023) then Mbappé (2024). “Even if we don’t have big names, we are ready to go for big things,” said Marquinhos before the start of the Champions League two weeks ago.
