Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his team are ready to face “the highest level you can find in European football” when his team tackle Paris Saint-Germain in North London on Tuesday.
The Gunners drew their opening match of the revamped tournament against Serie A outfit Atalanta in a clash that saw goalkeeper David Raya make a magnificent double save to help keep the scoreline goalless in Bergamo.
Raya dived down low to his right to save Mateo Retegui's penalty at the start of the second half before picking himself up and flying back across the goal to keep out the striker's header from the rebound.
“One of the best saves I have seen in my career,” said Arteta afterwards, with his Atalanta counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini adding: “The first save is good but the rebound is unbelievable.”
Last season saw Arsenal play Champions League football for the first time since 2017 with Mikel Arteta's side reaching the quarter-finals, where they were edged out 3-2 on aggregate by Harry Kane's Bayern Munich.
And this week sees Arsenal take on another of European football's big guns in reigning French champions PSG, who started their Champion League campaign with a 1-0 home win over Girona courtesy of a 90th-minute own goal. PSG are currently top of Ligue 1, ahead of Monaco on goal difference.
“Everyone is looking forward to it,” said Arteta, who spent a season on loan at PSG early in his playing career, on Monday. “These are the kind of nights we want to experience against an unbelievable opponent. We are ready for 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.”
In the PSG dugout at the Emirates Stadium will be Arteta's countryman Luis Enrique who won the Champions League in 2015 when manager of a Barcelona team that included the formidable attacking trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
Last season was Luis Enrique's first as PSG coach, which saw his side secure the domestic double but lose 1-0 in both legs to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals, denying Kylian Mbappe a dream exit before his summer move to Real Madrid – who went on to beat the German side in the final.
Now Luis Enrique will be hoping to lead PSG to that elusive European crown the club’s Qatari owners have been striving for since their takeover in 2011, a period which has seen superstar names such as Mbappe, Messi and Neymar come and go without Champions League glory having been secured.
Arteta and Luis Enrique’s playing careers crossed at Barcelona in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the former was just starting his journey as a professional footballer while the latter was coming to then end of his.
“An unbelievable personality,” Arteta said of the former Spain national team coach. “Huge character, huge energy. He is very supportive of young players always.
“What I love about him is whatever 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 learnt a lot of things from him. I love his honesty – he is very straightforward, he looks you in the eyes and tells you what he thinks. In the end, players appreciate that.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal left-back Jurrien Timber became the latest player to express his concerns about the number of games top-level footballers are being asked to compete in, as tournaments at club and international level continue to expand – including this season's Champions League.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who has just seen his season ended after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage, went as far as to say players could end up going on strike if their opinions on the fixture list are not taken into consideration.
And Dutch defender Timber, who himself missed most of last season with an ACL injury after, said he understands players’ complaints. “It is a big topic at the moment in dressing rooms … I didn’t play last season so I am just enjoying playing now, you won’t hear me complain. But I totally understand what they are saying.”
