While the two haven’t had the worst starts to PSG’s Ligue 1 campaign, the team, overall, haven’t looked as sharp as they did for 90% of last season.
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Wenger knows that winning Group A, and securing an easier draw, is the best way to improve Arsenal’s record of elimination at the last 16 stage in the past six seasons.
With Basel and Ludogorets Razgrad completing the Group A line-up, the Gunners and the French champions are expected to be fighting it out for first place.
Unai Emery’s side were beaten 3-1 by Monaco before being held 1-1 by Saint-Etienne last Friday, prompting questions over their potential to challenge for the Champions League this season.
I think so yes.I was used to playing with much younger squads when we built the same because we had not the resources.
October will mark Wenger’s managerial milestone but in recent years he has become a target for PSG and their wealthy backers, Qatari Sports Investments.
I like to come to Paris, it’s a city I love, the country I love.
Asked why he had not said yes to any of PSG’s overtures, he replied: “Because I love where I am”. The most important thing in the Champions League is to concentrate on yourself because all the teams in it are big teams with big players so the most important thing is to try and play our game and try to get the three points.
“I accept my responsibility, but I need time. Certainly, I haven’t had a squad of players [similar to this] for a long time, who have enough experience to compete”. “I like to come to Paris”, Wenger said. He must do without injured club captain Per Mertesacker on Tuesday but French global striker Olivier Giroud is back in contention for a place.
There was a definite void left at Paris Saint-Germain once Zlatan Ibrahimović departed for the next phase of his career at Manchester United, and a striker with his finishing capabilities is virtually irreplaceable.
Wenger confirmed that centre-half Laurent Koscielny is available for the clash after sustaining a heavy blow to his face in the final stages of Arsenal’s Premier League victory over Southampton on Saturday.
I think as a club they have lots of good players, I don’t think it affects them at all, they have a really strong front three at the moment and any player they can play up front is going to be unsafe We face the match in the same way we would have done if he had played.
“But we want to keep giving a chance to young players and get the mixture right”.
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The 31-year-old suffered a facial injury in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Southampton having drawn the Gunners level with a superb overhead kick on his birthday.
