By The Telegraph (World News) | Created at 2024-10-01 17:20:35 | Updated at 2024-10-01 19:19:00
2 hours ago
Good evening. Arsenal host Paris St-Germain at a rainswept Emirates Stadium in one of the plum ties of Champions League Matchday. The Gunners are hoping to get their first win in the newly restructured competition having drawn their opening match 0-0 at Serie A side Atalanta.
Domestically Arsenal have developed an assurance and robustness that has returned points in the Premier League’s toughest fixtures, but the same cannot be said in continental competition. Arsenal failed to progress beyond the Europa League semi-finals in three attempts under Arteta, and achieved par performance by reaching the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League. They were knocked out by Bayern Munich, after struggling against Porto in the last 16. Following a draw at Atalanta a fortnight ago, for which the visitors were indebted to David Raya’s remarkable double-save, Arsenal have won just one of their last six in the Champions League.
Last season’s campaign was Arsenal’s first since 2016-17, and the new ‘Swiss model’ offers them a chance to burnish their reputation against Europe’s elite. Despite the loss of Kylian Mbappe, PSG belong in that bracket having reached at least the semi-finals of this competition in three of the last five editions. Luis Enrique’s team are building around a young core including Willian Pacho, 22, Joao Neves, 20, Warren Zaire-Emery, 18, and Bradley Barcola, 22.
With Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha potentially joining Neves in the PSG engine room, an Arsenal midfield shorn of Martin Odegaard could find themselves outnumbered and outpassed. Perhaps Arsenal will cede more possession than expected at the Emirates, and will look to expose PSG in transition and at set-pieces. That said, with Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori offering Arsenal a new dimension from full-back, they may fill their midfield in other ways.
Whether PSG, without Ousmane Dembele after a reported bust-up with Enrique, have enough punch to hurt an Arsenal side the Spanish head coach described as the “best in Europe without the ball” is another question. Much could depend on the speed of Barcola from the left. The game could be won and lost on the flanks, with Bukayo Saka starting the season strongly and Gabriel Martinelli rounding into form.
Full team news on the way shortly.
