Paris St Germain will be a tougher proposition for Arsenal when the sides meet for a second time in this season's Champions League, the French club's manager Luis Enrique said on the eve of their semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
Image: Santiago Ferrero, Reuters
Paris St Germain will be a tougher proposition for Arsenal when the sides meet for a second time in this season's Champions League, the French club's manager Luis Enrique said on the eve of their semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
Goals by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka led Arsenal to a comfortable 2-0 victory over PSG in a group game in October, with the French champions failing to impress.
PSG have since won their fourth straight Ligue 1 title, however, and reached the French Cup final as well as eliminating Premier League champions Liverpool and Aston Villa en route to the Champions League's final four.
Asked about PSG's defeat by Arsenal in October, Luis Enrique told reporters on Monday; "That was seven or eight months ago. I saw the match again. We're a much better team today.
"We had a very intense group phase, with a lot of games that could have been finals. So I think that made things difficult because we were in a difficult position, but it has made us much stronger and we are more complete.
"These are Champions League semi-finals, but they're still two games between two teams with the same goal. The key will be managing the pressure."
Arsenal, who secured a crushing 5-1 aggregate win over holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, are unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season.
"They're one of the best teams in Europe and they've been doing a remarkable job with their coach for several years now," Luis Enrique said.
"We all deserve to be here. I like my team the most, that's why I'm here. Some people will like Paris more, others Arsenal, that's part of life."
Both Arsenal and PSG are bidding to win Europe's elite club competition for the first time.
"The objective is difficult to achieve. That doesn't mean we're under any pressure, we're ambitious," Luis Enrique added.
"When we say we want to make history, we're talking about doing something that nobody has done before us. The team has a lot of confidence, and sometimes we're less brilliant, but that's part of life.
"PSG have never won the Champions League? Neither have Arsenal. We mustn't let that stop us from performing at the highest level, we have to keep that in mind but concentrate on what we have to do."
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