Do Arsenal pose a THREAT to PSG in UCL final? Steve Nicol says PSG is ABSOLUTELY SCARY! | ESPN FC

0:01 Luis Enrique still with us.

0:02 Don Hutchison joining us now as well.

0:04 But let me start with you, Luis.

0:05 PSG now proving that they are the best team over the past two seasons in Europe.

0:13 Yeah, and and I think what's most impressive about this team is

0:16 that often when we are forecasting what's going to happen in Champions League,

0:20 and particularly this season,

0:22 we would have expected PSG to be in the latter stages of the competition.

0:26 But I don't know that we would have expected them

0:28 to go through the same pattern that they did last season,

0:31 in which they were not great in the group phase.

0:34 They did not finish in the top eight in the group phase,

0:37 or the league phase as it's called.

0:39 And and yet it's so impressive to see them building up

0:43 the momentum in the same manner in which they did last season.

0:47 And they get better, and they get better, and they get better.

0:50 And you feel the momentum happening, you feel the productivity,

0:53 and you feel that the level of play is improving,

0:56 and it's improving across all lines on the field.

0:59 And you're also seeing a team, unlike say for example Real Madrid,

1:03 that knows who is the boss,

1:05 who is making the decisions, who's holding the players accountable.

1:09 We heard from Ousmane Dembélé last week when

1:12 he was talking about if if he doesn't run, he's going to be on the bench.

1:17 We have seen Khvicha Kvaratskhelia being sat on the bench earlier this season

1:22 because he wasn't doing what Luis Enrique was asking him to do.

1:24 And these are two of their best players being held accountable by Luis Enrique.

1:28 You see all of that show up on the field.

1:31 And so, when you hold players that have this sort of talent,

1:34 you hold them accountable,

1:35 and they work as a group, and they work together, this is what you get.

1:40 PSG dominating as dominant as they can be,

1:43 and it's so very impressive to once again see them in the final,

1:46 and they go into the final as the favorites for me to win it.

1:49 Yeah, and like Luis said, Luis is getting better and better as the season's gone

1:52 on, which we saw last season with them as well,

1:54 getting hot right now at just the right time,

1:56 which from Luis Enrique is the skill in itself, isn't it?

2:02 Yeah, exactly.

2:03 And they they found a way of having the peak

2:05 of the of the season right at the at the right time.

2:09 Right in to March, you can see the players are in the perfect condition.

2:12 All of them of 90% of the players are ready to to fight.

2:16 And I was checking what some of the of the of the numbers through the season,

2:21 how Luis Enrique has been rotating, how many minutes they have been involved.

2:25 And most of the players they didn't even get to the 1,000 minutes.

2:28 So, the rotation has been working.

2:30 They managed to rest players during the season,

2:33 they're not getting them involved into the into the league,

2:35 fighting for the league, but understanding that that rotation is so important.

2:39 So, now they are arriving to in the best form of the of the season

2:42 because they didn't have time also in pre-season to have a good one,

2:45 to get ready for a long one.

2:46 They were involved in in that Club World

2:49 Cup International I cannot remember how is this called.

2:53 But that that they didn't even have the rest.

2:55 So, they knew that during the season you need

2:57 to give that opportunity to the players to rest.

2:59 So, they were not involved in many of the games during the season.

3:02 That's why Kvaratskhelia was rested many of many times.

3:06 And Barcola was switching with the way.

3:08 Dembélé exactly the same with a small injury during the season,

3:11 but fresh in the in the last part.

3:13 So, in the end they they found a way of doing it.

3:15 Some of the teams they just managed to continue going on and on and on.

3:19 And when they dismiss a name, I think we talked about this many times.

3:22 March, February, March is the right moment in the season.

3:25 If you don't arrive with enough energy after a long season,

3:28 you're going to have that low and then

3:29 you're going to be out of every single competition.

3:31 So, I think they managed to do it once again so well.

3:35 And again, as Ali said,

3:37 I think they are favorites to win the Champions League once again.

3:39 And Chaka, just to Luis saying that finding a way of doing it,

3:42 finding a way of doing it in both legs here as well.

3:44 We saw that 5-4 shootout in the first leg,

3:46 but then Luis Enrique knowing how to get his team playing

3:50 in a different way in the second leg to see out this result.

3:52 Like just being able to switch it up.

3:54 And for how they've been able to to adapt in Munich

3:57 against in my mind the second best team in European football.

4:01 I I I will double down in everything that everybody has said.

4:05 The amazing thing in looking at PSG and their progression during

4:09 the last two seasons is how much of they've how much they've improved.

4:13 Not just that they've improved and gotten better as as the season's gone on.

4:17 We've been able to see that about teams in the past.

4:19 Paris comes to mind, Manchester City last couple of years apart.

4:23 We've always sung their praises about how

4:26 they've been able to finish seasons seasons off.

4:29 How they've been able to run down whoever is top of the Premier League table.

4:32 But their improvement from first half of the season to second half is nothing

4:36 like the improvement that we've seen from PSG in the two halves of the season.

4:39 You could make the argument that they were just about average,

4:43 a little bit more first half of the season.

4:45 Second half of the season,

4:47 they have just gotten better and better to the point that that it

4:51 is beyond any argument who's the best team on the planet.

4:54 And now we're talking about this team in relation

4:57 to some of the best club teams that we've seen.

5:00 Looking to repeat as champions as as as Champions

5:02 League winners only the great Madrid have have have done.

5:06 And all of a sudden they're writing themselves into that conversation.

5:10 A team that just about got out of of of the league phase.

5:14 That is is is down to Luis Enrique, how he's managed this team,

5:18 and how these players have stepped up

5:19 to to those challenges particularly later on.

5:21 Yeah, and it's Arsenal now done standing

5:23 in the way of another Champions League trophy for PSG.

5:26 Do Arteta's men pose a unique threat in any way to this PSG team?

5:32 Uh in their own way.

5:33 I mean, just adding something to what the guys were saying.

5:36 I was watching the game live last night and it

5:37 was bizarre that I was watching Safonov in goal.

5:40 And he kicked the ball down PSG's left-hand side

5:43 out of play for a throw-in every single time.

5:46 And it was bugging me thinking of what

5:47 How can the goalkeeper not kick the ball straight

5:49 and keep it on the island since I read

5:52 the newspapers and the articles and seen it online.

5:54 Apparently, it was a tactic to get PSG's players on the left-hand

5:58 side of this pitch to stop Elise from building up.

6:01 So, I had loads of numbers in and around him.

6:03 So, little in-game management and in-game tactics from Luis Enrique.

6:07 Small things, but things that make

6:08 a difference on top of having fantastic players.

6:11 But, Arsenal have got to approach this game and they've got to play their way.

6:15 They've got to play it the English way.

6:17 They've got to play it the Arsenal way.

6:18 They cannot get sucked into a game

6:20 of football because they lose every single time.

6:23 They're going to have to be strong.

6:24 They're going to have to show the best version of themselves.

6:27 Set plays could be really important for them.

6:29 They've got to They've got to muscle up in every area.

6:33 Um, they've got to fight tooth and nail for every inch.

6:35 And that's what Arteta has to do.

6:37 I don't think he can go into this game,

6:39 which we've been talking about Arsenal lately being free and the shackles

6:42 off and go and play your football and go and entertain.

6:45 That's the last thing I would imagine his instructions

6:48 are going into a Champions League final against PSG.

6:51 Do you see this being really physical battle, Stevie?

6:53 Absolutely.

6:54 Arsenal have to make it a You know,

6:56 as much as we talk about the running that PSG's

7:00 players did for for the team and for themselves,

7:04 Arsenal have to put the pressure on them

7:06 and force them into making mistakes at the back.

7:09 And then you have to trust your defense.

7:11 Um, any other way then I think they they put themselves in trouble.

7:17 They certainly can't sit tight and let PSG come [music] at them.

7:21 I mean, that front three is absolutely scary.

7:23 You know, Arsenal have to do, in my opinion, what PSG did against Bayern.

7:28 If they can get themselves ahead and then they can

7:31 make a statement and keep things tight higher up the field,

7:34 not sitting at the top of the their own box.

7:37 And then they can go and emulate what PSG did to Bayern.

7:41 But, yeah, I'm with Dawn.

7:42 They have to go and do it their way.

7:44 Seeing as that we do have Bundesliga LA on from Barcelona,

7:47 albeit, let's talk a little bit about Bayern if we can LA.

7:50 Will they be having any regrets about the semi-final?

7:52 Will they be looking back at anything and wish they'd done it differently?

7:58 Uh since you referenced Bundesliga,

8:01 I was uh I would just answer that question by saying, "Yeah." Yes,

8:06 [laughter] they will have all sorts of issues with not

8:11 necessarily their performance because in watching

8:15 Bayern Munich playing against PSG,

8:16 you quickly recognize, yeah, these are the two best teams in Europe.

8:20 But, I think there are moments in which Bayern

8:23 Munich and Vincent Kompany will look back and say,

8:25 "Good lord." When the match got out of control in the first leg,

8:30 when it became 5-2 so very quickly, in those moments,

8:35 you would want a team of this caliber to be able to slow down the play,

8:39 to not get in that back and forth with PSG.

8:41 Sometimes with to hang on to the ball and actually have

8:44 control of the possession of the ball and not just expose

8:47 your center backs and your outside backs to 1 v 1

8:49 situations against some of the most dynamic players in the world.

8:52 And Bayern Munich were unable to recognize that in the first leg.

8:56 Look, you give up five goals in a semi-finals of Champions League,

9:00 more than likely, you're going to lose.

9:03 Now, to their credit,

9:05 they showed that they had enough to come back and make it competitive,

9:08 make it 5-4 and give themselves an opportunity at home.

9:12 But, I don't think it's a secret that Bayern

9:14 Munich has been struggling defensively over the last month,

9:18 certainly struggled defensively against PSG,

9:20 struggled defensively against Heidenheim, struggled defensively against Mainz,

9:23 and those things are going to show up

9:25 and they showed up in the worst time possible.

9:27 And of course, PSG took advantage of that.

9:29 So, for Bayern Munich,

9:30 I think there will be some regret in the sense that we were right there.

9:35 We were very close, and had we taken care of of some of the smaller details

9:40 in the game that make all the difference

9:41 especially against a team with the quality of PSG,

9:44 we may just be going to the final.

9:46 They did not and now they focus on yeah, they won the Bundesliga,

9:51 Pokal and they're looking ahead to that final

9:54 and then beyond that they'll probably look

9:56 back to this Champions League as what might have been or what could have been.

9:59 And of course let's lean on your experience of Atleti now if we

10:02 can Luis given the fact that they were the other team that were eliminated.

10:05 Are we seeing their ceiling the way that this team's

10:08 built that they'll be third or fourth in La Liga

10:10 each year and have a deep run in the Champions

10:12 League but ultimately be knocked out by a better team.

10:18 Yeah and it's been the life of Atletico Madrid

10:22 supporter for the past 12-15 years or something or so.

10:25 A team that has been I was reading that they took I

10:29 think one trophy in the last 10 years since 2016 until today.

10:33 They only won one Copa del Rey and that was about

10:36 it and that's something that even though that this year they

10:40 managed to get into the semi-final of the Champions League that that's

10:43 something that no Barcelona did or no many big teams did.

10:47 But definitely something that for the supporters of Atletico

10:50 Madrid they are not anymore is not anymore enough.

10:53 Atletico Madrid was built to to do something else.

10:55 I think that they decided to throw away the league quite long time

10:58 ago and now they try to fight to to get in the third position.

11:02 But I think [clears throat] Simeone was very clear the other day when he was

11:05 saying yeah but it's not enough the supporters and the club wants to win things.

11:09 In the end is what it's all about.

11:11 So I think that they will regret how they played that that game.

11:14 I think they could have done a a little bit more.

11:17 We saw Atletico Madrid a little bit afraid or a little

11:20 bit hanging at the back not trying to throw

11:22 because when you arrive to that that stage where it's

11:25 only about one game you have to go with everything.

11:27 And I think that if they look back at to the to that game

11:31 they will miss a few things that up front.

11:33 We didn't see anything from Griezmann, from Julian Alvarez, from Simeone,

11:38 from no one else, not even the players who came on in the bench.

11:40 So, a pity that Atletico Madrid is not once again in the Champions League final,

11:44 but Atletico Madrid needs to think about the future and try to change what it

11:48 is the draw Atletico Madrid the past few

11:50 years is that to arrive there almost there,

11:52 third position, fourth position, but never to grab a trophy.

11:55 Okay.

11:56 Well, before we do say goodbye to you guys,

11:58 it's just past midnight right now in Barcelona.

12:00 It's a city you know well, Luis.

12:01 Are you going to show Ali some of the nightlife there?

12:06 Ali, we go for Sure, Luis.

12:09 Where are we going?

12:10 I can I can just tell you.

12:12 [laughter] I can just tell you.

12:13 Unrelated, unrelated, let me just say, and obviously you can't you cannot sense

12:19 this yourself because you're in the studio,

12:20 but somebody around us in this environment is smoking a funny cigarette.

12:26 And let me just say, somebody's having a much better time than we are.

12:32 [laughter] Oh, yeah.

12:32 We don't go to those places.

12:34 No, you don't go to those places.

12:35 And you always have a good time on this show, surely, Ali.

12:38 How does he know what the smell is?

12:39 Yeah, how do you know, Ali?

12:42 [laughter] I I've been told.

12:46 And I also did go to college at one point.

12:49 is true.

12:49 That is true.

12:51 Good stuff, guys.

12:51 Have a good night.

12:52 Get some rest and we'll speak to you across the weekend as well.

12:55 We'll get to see both of us later.

12:57 Yeah, straight home.

12:57 Stay away.

12:58 I don't Atletico again so we'll be coming up on Saturday.

13:01 Wolfsburg against Bayern.

13:02 Our coverage will begin at 12:00 Eastern on ESPN

13:05 Plus looking at both [music] of these games.

13:07 Be sure to be with us.