Mikel Arteta feels tomorrow night’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain will provide another indicator as to the progress of his team.
Arsenal returned to the top tier of European football last season after a seven-year absence and performed well, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Bayern Munich.
PSG went one further, getting to the last four before a surprise two-legged defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
The Ligue 1 champions have long been part of Europe’s elite and Arteta says it will be a good test for his players at the Emirates.
He said: “Everyone is looking forward to it. We missed it for a number of years and last year was the first where we could do it.
“The group stage is a bit different this season. The opposition we are facing tomorrow is probably the highest level you can find in European football. But it is a great opportunity for us to see how we deal with it and how prepared we are and how we can impose ourselves in this kind of context.”
Arteta a huge fan of Luis Enrique
Arteta will lock horns with opposing boss Luis Enrique tomorrow night and, speaking this morning, he could not hide his admiration for the former Barcelona and Spain coach.
“An unbelievable personality. Huge character, huge energy. He is very supportive of young players always,” he added.
“What I love about him is wherever he has been, as a player or a manager, his fingerprints are everywhere. You can sense that that is his team. The way the players behave, the way they want to attack, they want to dominate teams. The spirit and energy they have. He has this unbelievable power.
“His approach to life and his profession. It is something to really look at and I have learned a lot of things from him.”
LEO AT THE LAST ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/WOfzA2c2b3
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 29, 2024
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Author : Jon Fisher
Publish date : 2024-09-30 09:59:38
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