After a miraculous victory against Girona (1-0), PSG faces a worthy opponent this Tuesday (9 p.m.), Arsenal.
What is the PSG vintage 2024-25 worth? A PSG “stronger collectively”as Brest coach Eric Roy recently noted. Impression shared by all Paris opponents since the start of the season, Julien Stéphan in the lead. After the 3-1 defeat at the Parc des Princes on Friday, the Rennes coach highlighted the “impressive technical mastery” of his executioners. “They are strong in duels, able to press, fall back, they are solid”he added. The Red and Blue are indeed stronger than last year, that’s a fact, even if Luis Enrique believes that the press is too busy being in the “negativity» to notice it or talk about it. It’s running in all directions!
“The star is the team”insists the former coach of La Roja over and over again, rightly ensuring that his team is “continuing from last season”. «Work in progress»as we say in English. And precisely, the Parisians are on the other side of the Channel to face Arsenal this Tuesday (9 p.m., Canal+), during the second day of the Champions League, and take a real test there. In fact, the first of the season. And this against an opponent that the capital club has never beaten so far in its history (3 draws, 1 defeat). An opponent who plays in the same league, like Antoine Griezman’s Atlético, who will be expected at the Park on November 6.
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Almost perfect balance sheet, but…
Since the start of the campaign, Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola, Achraf Hakimi and company have not been shaken up much, even if the matches against Girona (1-0) and Reims (1-1), less brilliant, were raises some doubts. “It’s life my love”laughed Luis Enrique. The balance sheet is almost perfect with six wins and a draw in seven matches (21 goals scored, 5 conceded). Arsenal, however, is another caliber and “one of the best teams in the world”as the 54-year-old Asturian technician analyzes. Even without the injured Martin Odegaard, the Gunners pose as Manchester City’s main rivals in England. Runners-up to the Skyblues for the last two years, they recently held them to a draw (2-2) at the Etihad Stadium.
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It was a difficult decision, but I am absolutely certain it was the right one.
Luis Enrique on the sidelining of Ousmane Dembélé
Former PSG player, at the very beginning of the 2000s, Arteta had renounced his principles and his idea of the game to achieve this result. Principles quite close to those of Luis Enrique. Does the latter fear Paris enough to do it again? Not sure. What is, is that the Red and Blue will be true to themselves. And this even without “Dembouz”, dismissed for disciplinary reasons. “No matter who plays, it will be the same PSG as usual, no doubt about that”insists Luis Enrique, believing that “If someone doesn’t respect their obligations to the team, it’s because they’re not ready. It’s an important week, an important match, and I want the players to be in the best possible condition. It was a difficult decision, but I am absolutely certain it was the right one. I will do the same thing 100 times”.
From a source close to the management of the Parisian club, we recall that Luis Enrique has all the power regarding the athlete, he has the full confidence of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. “This highlights its zero tolerance regarding any form of deviation among players», Tells us this source.
Also undefeated this season (5 wins, 3 draws, 17 goals scored and 6 conceded), Boukayo Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba and their little comrades have at least as much technical quality, talent, speed as the Parisians, with more of bench, muscles in the middle and collective experience. Beaten in the last minutes at the Emirates on Saturday, Leicester nevertheless demonstrated that it is not impossible to tickle them (4-2). The Parisians will try to highlight their qualities while masking their faults in terms of athletic qualities, experience, weight in the opposing area. And without their number 1 danger in attack, scorer, passer and detonator. “There will be other players to take over. The most important thing is the collective”guarantees Hakimi, preaching the good word.
Also read“If someone does not respect the obligations towards the team, it is because they are not ready”: Luis Enrique justifies the sidelining of Dembélé
Expected and exciting
After these 90 minutes, we will know more about the level of the French champions… right now. However, we should not see them looking too good in the event of success or imagine them finished in the event of a setback. Especially since the absence of Dembélé changes the situation… Arsenal-PSG nonetheless remains an expected and exciting crossing point between two contenders for the top 8. “It will be a great match between two great teams. We are here to win”affirms the excellent Hakimi, who has no intention of lowering his ambitions under the pretext that his usual pair on the right is unavailable.
Gigio Donnarumma, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Marco Asensio and Désiré Doué are returning to the group. They all missed at least the last match against Stade Rennes. To see if they are 100% operational. “The strong point is the unity between the players. Few people see it from the outside, but there is a connection between us, it’s a big family”adds the Moroccan side. This unit won’t be too much against Arsenal, that’s clear.