Mikel Arteta sends message to PSG after Arsenal beat Real Madrid to reach semi-finals
Mikel Arteta’s side are through to the semi-finals (Picture: Getty) Mikel Arteta said he is looking forward to returning to the Parc de Princes, but is under no illusions as to the challenge awaiting Arsenal in their Champions League semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal punched their ticket to the final four with an emphatic 5-1 aggregate victory over defending champions Real Madrid. Holding a three-goal advantage after the first leg, the Gunners went further ahead through Bukayo Saka’s second-half strike, the Englishman making amends for his missed penalty midway through the first half. And while Vinicius Junior levelled the second leg shortly after, Arsenal saw out the contest with relative ease for the final 30 minutes. Arteta’s side were even able to add some icing on the cake in injury time when Gabriel Martinelli stormed through on goal to secure a famous 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu to go with the convincing aggregate scoreline. Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. The win means Arsenal progress to their first Champions League semi-finals since 2009 and set up a tantalising affair with the French champions who edged past Aston Villa earlier in the week. For Arteta, the tie marks an emotional return to the club where he enjoyed a fruitful loan spell during the formative years of his playing career. Arsenal produced a superb performance at the Bernabeu (Picture: Getty) But the Spaniard was already readying himself for the difficult challenge presented by Luis Enrique’s side, who have lit up the tournament so far with their free-flowing, attacking football. ‘It will be a special moment (against PSG), we have to enjoy it first, it’s a great achievement for us,’ Arteta told Canal+ following Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid. Arteta’s side now face his former club PSG in the final four (Picture: Getty) ‘I’ve been a big fan of Enrique for years, he’s an incredible coach and what he’s built with this team is special: this consistency, this way of playing, it will be difficult for us. ‘I’m happy to come back to the Parc de Princes, yes, it will be special for me, I played there and I liked it, it was my debut as a pro.’ Arsenal faced PSG earlier in the contest during the league-stage phase, where goals from Kai Havertz and Saka saw the Gunners romp to a comfortable 2-0 home. Declan Rice is expecting a tough fixture against the French champions (Picture: Getty) But Declan Rice was wary to put too much stock into their win earlier in the season, noting that the French champions had improved greatly since the tournament’s early days. ‘The semi-finals are massive for us. We want to take tonight in because we want to take it one step at a time. It’s PSG next who are an amazing team,’ Rice told TNT Sports. ‘We’ve played PSG once already. We feel they are a different team to back then. We’ve seen what they can do, but Aston Villa caused them a lot of problems.’ Asked more generally about Wednesday’s result, Rice added: ‘I just think it’s such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition. We want to play the best teams and we want to win this competition. ‘There was a lot of talk coming here about them coming back, because they have done it so many times before. But we had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game. ‘We knew we were going to suffer. But we knew we were going to win. We did it in my mind, and then we did it in real life. What a night for the club.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Mikel Arteta said he is looking forward to returning to the Parc de Princes, but is under no illusions as to the challenge awaiting Arsenal in their Champions League semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal punched their ticket to the final four with an emphatic 5-1 aggregate victory over defending champions Real Madrid.
Holding a three-goal advantage after the first leg, the Gunners went further ahead through Bukayo Saka’s second-half strike, the Englishman making amends for his missed penalty midway through the first half.
And while Vinicius Junior levelled the second leg shortly after, Arsenal saw out the contest with relative ease for the final 30 minutes.
Arteta’s side were even able to add some icing on the cake in injury time when Gabriel Martinelli stormed through on goal to secure a famous 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu to go with the convincing aggregate scoreline.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
The win means Arsenal progress to their first Champions League semi-finals since 2009 and set up a tantalising affair with the French champions who edged past Aston Villa earlier in the week.
For Arteta, the tie marks an emotional return to the club where he enjoyed a fruitful loan spell during the formative years of his playing career.
But the Spaniard was already readying himself for the difficult challenge presented by Luis Enrique’s side, who have lit up the tournament so far with their free-flowing, attacking football.
‘It will be a special moment (against PSG), we have to enjoy it first, it’s a great achievement for us,’ Arteta told Canal+ following Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid.
‘I’ve been a big fan of Enrique for years, he’s an incredible coach and what he’s built with this team is special: this consistency, this way of playing, it will be difficult for us.
‘I’m happy to come back to the Parc de Princes, yes, it will be special for me, I played there and I liked it, it was my debut as a pro.’
Arsenal faced PSG earlier in the contest during the league-stage phase, where goals from Kai Havertz and Saka saw the Gunners romp to a comfortable 2-0 home.
But Declan Rice was wary to put too much stock into their win earlier in the season, noting that the French champions had improved greatly since the tournament’s early days.
‘The semi-finals are massive for us. We want to take tonight in because we want to take it one step at a time. It’s PSG next who are an amazing team,’ Rice told TNT Sports.
‘We’ve played PSG once already. We feel they are a different team to back then. We’ve seen what they can do, but Aston Villa caused them a lot of problems.’
Asked more generally about Wednesday’s result, Rice added: ‘I just think it’s such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition. We want to play the best teams and we want to win this competition.
‘There was a lot of talk coming here about them coming back, because they have done it so many times before. But we had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game.
‘We knew we were going to suffer. But we knew we were going to win. We did it in my mind, and then we did it in real life. What a night for the club.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
