The 44-year-old Spaniard leads the French giants into their Champions League opener against Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday knowing the outcome could prove crucial in determining who wins Group A.
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Although Arsenal have always qualified for the knockout stages since the inception of the new format in 2003/04, they have failed to progress past the Round of 16 in recent seasons.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger called for forward Lucas Perez to be given time to find his feet in the Premier League.
Faced with dropping another two points, Arsenal benefited from a favorable refereeing decision after Jose Fonte dragged down Olivier Giroud with a tug on the striker’s shirt 30 seconds into stoppage time.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes Ibrahimovic represents a significant loss to the French side. My experience tells me that demands and my values of winning are exactly the same as when I started out in Spain 12 years ago.
Moreover, Xhaka has had longer with the squad in training, the preseason and in the league thus far and is renowned for enjoying the physical aspects of football.
If Wenger thinks Cazorla may need a rest then Mohamed Elneny is pushing for a recall or he could stick with Francis Coquelin but I still think we’ll see the little maestro keep his place. Sanchez played well. We found him between the lines.
“It’s work, the progression of that work in order to improve and today, for me, I am confident that with work, when I know all the players and the whole team, the championship, the Champions League, that we will do better”, he said.
After the break the hosts were camped in the Saints half but could not test Fraser Forster, with Hector Bellerin’s shot flashing wide on the hour the closest they came before Wenger made a double-change.
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“He is one of the most experienced players here, one of the longest-serving defenders and is one of our best players”, Wenger added when asked why the Frenchman is captaining the side in the absence of Per Mertesacker. “We want to play well and win”, he said. “And Mustafi has only played one half since the start of the season with Valencia”.
