During their debut in C1, at the Parc des Princes, the Parisians won by a narrow margin (1-0) thanks to an error by the Girona goalkeeper. But Arsenal, an English heavyweight with a rich European past, is a much more formidable obstacle on paper than the Spanish little thumb, surprise of La Liga last season.
Paris on the offensive again
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 during the play-off phase. Champions League group.
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).
“An exceptional team”
“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.
“They are very aggressive with the ball and they run into you, that’s (the mark of) Luis” Enrique, he said.
Without Dembélé, with youth
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.
This will certainly be the key sector for Paris because Arsenal are one of the most effective European teams currently in this area.
Calendar noted
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).
“There is no doubt that our team is young but I am not putting limits on us. I don’t think it’s a handicap for us,” Luis Enrique also assured.
After Arsenal, PSG’s program is just as difficult with PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Salzburg, Manchester City and Stuttgart, but “we are not going to use our calendar as an excuse, we are going to fight” , had warned the Parisian coach.
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