New Delhi [India], October 1 : In the lead-up to Arsenal's (Gunners) highly anticipated Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the Gunners head coach Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts on various aspects of the upcoming match and competition as a whole in pre-match press conference.
He acknowledged the challenge posed by PSG, saying, "They're really tough. They are exceptional and they dominate every phase of play. They have a very clear intention of how they want to dominate the game through the ball and when they don't have it, they want it straight back. They are really aggressive with it and they confront you," as quoted by Arsenal's official website.
Arteta expressed his excitement about the first home Champions League game of the season, stating, "We're looking forward to it. These are the kind of nights that we want to experience and want to have against an unbelievable opponent. We're just ready for it."
Discussing the different ways Arsenal has secured results this term, he said, "We've had some very different ones! We ended up having to play a very different game in the second half against Man City, and in the end we lost two points in the last minute. We did completely the opposite playing against a low block like we did against City and with different challenges, but watching the game back, the amount of things that we generated, I was so pleased with the team."
Reflecting on Champions League nights at Emirates Stadium, Arteta commented, "Everybody is looking forward to it. We missed it for a number of years, and last year was the first one after so many years that we had the experience to do it. The group stage is a bit different this season and the opposition we are going to face tomorrow is probably at the highest level that you can face in European football. But honestly, it's a good opportunity for us to see how we deal with these nights, how prepared we are and how we can impose ourselves in this kind of context," as per quoted by Arsenal's official website.
Regarding his relationship with Luis Enrique, Arteta shared, "....I'm a huge admirer of him. An unbelievable personality, huge character, huge energy, always very supportive with young players. What I love about him is wherever he's been, as a player or a manager, his fingerprints are all over the place. You can sense it's his team the way his players behave, the way they want to attack and dominate games. The spirit, the energy they have, he has this unbelievable power with all the clubs he's been at, with the Spain national team. And then his approach to life, to his profession - it's something to really look at and I learnt a lot of things from him."
Arteta's reflections set the stage for an exciting encounter as Arsenal gears up to face one of Europe's elite teams at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
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