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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) manager Luis Enrique has sent a strong message to Arsenal ahead of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) semifinal showdown. The Spanish tactician believes their Ligue 1 defeat to Nice on Friday, April 25, does not change the fact that they are the best team in France.
Speaking to the media, Enrique said he was not worried about the Arsenal clash despite the Nice loss. He added that his players were also charged up for the match, saying (via METRO):
"Based on what I saw, I’m signing up straight away for Tuesday in London and the return leg. Not for the result, obviously, but I saw a team that had 30 chances to score. I’m not worried at all. We attacked, didn’t calculate, and we came up against a goalkeeper who made some incredible saves.
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"We are the best team in France, by far, we proved it. We have to be brave now and think about winning the Champions League. Right now, the players are clearly affected. We deserved to win, no doubt about it. But if the opponent is 100 per cent efficient and you’re not as efficient as usual, things turn around. It’s as simple as that. Draw whatever conclusions you want from that. I’m not going to give any clues to Arteta."
PSG defeated Aston Villa in the quarterfinals, while the Gunners thrashed Real Madrid in their quarterfinals. Barcelona take on Inter Milan in the other UEFA Champions League semifinal.
Paul Merson backs Arsenal to beat PSG
Football pundit Paul Merson spoke to Sky Sports about the UEFA Champions League semifinals, predicting Arsenal to beat PSG. He believes that the Gunners have a slight edge over the Ligue 1 side, saying (via Football London):
"I think Arsenal win over two legs. I think Arsenal win, I think we still get carried away with the PSG of the first leg against Liverpool. I thought they were outstanding, one of the best team performances we’ve seen this season from anyone. But they lost the game, they lost that game 1-0, people still forget that. They are outstanding. But they were hanging on, absolutely hanging on at Anfield. Then they go and play Villa and they absolutely dominated Villa, scored last kick of the game which worked out to be a priceless goal in the end to go 3-1 up."
The Gunners defeated PSG 2-0 earlier this season when the two sides met in the league phase. They are looking to match Manchester City as the only side to beat PSG twice in a season.
