Laurent Koscielny is a doubt for Arsenal’s opening Champions League group game against Paris Saint-Germain today after suffering an eye injury during the climax of Saturday’s dramatic stoppage-time 2-1 win over Southampton in the English Premier League.
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Wenger, 66, has been in charge at the Premier League club since 1996, but could have returned to his homeland. “But we still want to keep giving chances to young players and keep the mixture right”.
The key to returning to the latter stages is winning Group A to thereby set up an easier draw in the first knockout round, and so taking points off the French champions at the Parc des Princes could be crucial.
Speaking to the Islington Gazette the 24-year-old Bad Hersfeld-born defender praised the team’s spirit, saying: “It’s important to stay in the game until the last second of the game, until the referee blows the whistle”.
“They were in the same hotel as us in Los Angeles when Thiago Silva got injured and he has still not come back, but I am not too anxious for them because they have been well above the rest of the teams in their league in recent years and I expect to see a different PSG in the Champions League”.
Arsenal have failed to progress past the last-16 stage of the Champions League in the last six seasons, but are seen, alongside PSG, as the favourites to qualify from a group that also includes FC Basel and Ludogorets Razgrad.
Edinson Cavani and Olivier Giroud naturally lead the anytime goalscorer market; however, Layvin Kurzawa offers value as an outsider in that market having scored four goals already this season (one in the Super Cup, two in Ligue 1 and his first for France in the 3-1 friendly win against Italy in Bari on 1 September). The game will be won or lost there.
“Why did not I say yes (to PSG)?” It’s the first time for a long time that I’ve had a team of what you can call men ready to compete. “The players do not know the team”. Hatem Ben Arfa spent four years in England with Newcastle United and Hull City.
But Bellerin insists that Arsenal must not allow any complacency to creep in on Tuesday simply because Ibrahimovic has moved on. “It’s hard. He is one of the most experienced players we have and I think one of our best players”.
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Wenger added that Laurent Koscielny is in contention to start despite getting a kick in the face on Saturday.
