Paris Saint Germain manager Luis Enrique has expressed confidence in his side’s abilities as they prepare to face Arsenal in their UCL semifinal clash on Tuesday.
The French champions travel to the England to face Mikel Arteta Gunners’ side in Tuesday’s first leg encounter at the Emirates Stadium.
Road to the showdown
Arsenal won both legs of their quarterfinal clash against last season winners Real Madrid, thrashing the Spanish giants 5-1 on aggregate. The Gunners had also defeated Dutch side PSV Eindhoven comprehensively in the previous round, claiming a 9-3 triumph on aggregate.
PSG defeated Liverpool(on penalties, after a 1-1 draw over two legs) and Aston Villa(5-4 on aggregate) in the Round of 16 and quarterfinal respectively to book a spot against Arsenal in this season’s last four.
Both sides met earlier in the season in the revamped group phase with the Gunners coming out victorious, as goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka secured all three points.
What Enrique said:
Luis Enrique is confident his side can defeat their third straight English opponents and fourth of this season’s competition, and has issued a strong warning to Mikel Arteta’s side.
“We beat Liverpool and they won the Premier League this year. But that doesn’t mean anything because every single match is different.
Everybody speaks about the Premier League as being the best league in the world. I don’t know if I agree or not. But we are full confidence and looking forward to playing in the semi-final”, Enrique said in the prematch interview.
“The last game took place on October 1 so that was seven or eight months ago, and there are huge differences between now and then.
I have reviewed the game, and seen how far our game has come and we are better now. We are a more complete team and our next objective is to rewrite history and there is only one way to do that.”
What is next for both sides?
PSG suffered their first league loss of the campaign after a 3-1 loss against Nice and will hope to bounce back with a win against the Gunners, before facing in-form Strasbourg next weekend.
Arsenal, having lost out on the Premier League to Liverpool, will now turn their attention to Tuesday’s game before a weekend clash against Bournemouth.
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