Luis Enrique highlights Arsenal’s biggest strength after PSG defeat

Luis Enrique says Arsenal’s physicality played a key role in their win over Paris Saint-Germain

Luis Enrique hailed Arsenal as one of the best aerial teams in Europe after their 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Mikel Arteta’s side secured their first win in the Champions League this season with first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

PSG, meanwhile, struggled to create clear-cut chances at the Emirates Stadium and have now suffered their first defeat of the season.

Speaking after the game, PSG head coach Luis Enrique believes Arsenal’s physicality was a key factor behind their performance and admits his players struggled to overcome the pressure from Arteta’s side.

‘Our rivals tonight were much better in terms of intensity, in terms of pressure, they won every duel,’ Luis Enrique said.

‘Effectively after the second goal Arsenal scored they decided to defend a bit more deeply, take a few less risks, Arsenal deserved their victory.

Arsenal’s solid defensive display limited PSG’s attack at the Emirates Stadium (Getty)

‘Really, it’s impossible to come out of a game with a positive result if you don’t manage to win any duel on the pitch.

‘We won none of our duels, their defenders completely anticipated our attackers, and our defenders failed to anticipate their attackers. From the first minute Arsenal were superior to us in the game.

‘We knew from the first minute they were going to press us high, aggressive, and they did it great, we couldn’t overcome that kind of pressure.

‘If you try to overcome that pressure but you lose every single duel you’re going to be far away to win the match.’

When asked about PSG’s weakness from set-pieces against Arsenal, Luis Enrique replied: ‘First of all, the first goal wasn’t from a set-piece, it was from a cross.

‘In front of us today were one of the best aerial teams in the whole of Europe, which is Arsenal.

‘They had a bit of luck in the second goal, it was a fairly simple cross to deal with but it wasn’t dealt with and the goal went in.’

Luis Enrique went on to add: ‘That’s top-level football for you.

‘We’re playing away from home, we played against a team that over the last three seasons have been one of top teams on the planet.

‘They were better than us on the evening. I’m just saying the other team was better than us, it’s not an analysis, we don’t know if we’re going to play Arsenal again this season, but the analysis I have today is not going to be the same if we play each other again throughout the season.’

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