‘THEY CAN’T SIT BACK!’ How will Arsenal approach the Champions League final vs. PSG? | ESPN FC

0:01 Okay, here's some of the newspapers from France and Spain.

0:04 The reaction to PSG making it to the final.

0:07 They keep saying total pleasure as the champions go through.

0:10 Mundo say a blue and red final.

0:12 And as for sport, it is another final for Lucho.

0:16 Let's get word from Luis Enrique.

0:18 Before we get into it,

0:32 Champions League consecutive Arsenal for reason still with us.

1:24 Don Hutcherson joining us now as well.

1:26 But let me start with you, Ali.

1:28 PSG now proving that they are the best team over the past two seasons in Europe.

1:35 Yeah.

1:35 And and I think what's most impressive about this team is that often when

1:39 we are forecasting what's going to happen

1:41 in Champions League and particularly this season,

1:44 we would have expected PSG to be in the latter stages of the competition.

1:48 But I don't know that we would have expected them to go through the same

1:52 pattern that they did last season in which

1:54 they were not great in the group phase.

1:56 They did not finish in the top eight

1:58 in the group phase or the league phase as it's called.

2:01 And and yet it's so impressive to see them building up

2:05 the momentum in the same manner in which they did last season.

2:09 And they get better and they get better

2:11 and they get better and you feel the momentum happening.

2:14 and you feel the productivity and you feel that the level of play

2:17 is improving and it's improving across all lines on the field and you're

2:21 also seeing a team unlike say for example Real Madrid that knows who

2:26 is the boss who is making the decisions who's holding the players accountable.

2:31 We heard from Dembele last week when he was uh talking about

2:36 if if he doesn't run he's going to be on the bench.

2:39 We have seen Kavichaka Kavaralia being sat on the bench earlier this season

2:44 because he wasn't doing what Luc Enrique was asking him to do.

2:46 And these are two of their best players being held accountable by Lu Enrique.

2:51 You see all of that show up on the field.

2:53 And so when you hold players that have this sort of talent,

2:56 you hold them accountable and they work as a group and they work together.

3:01 This is what you get.

3:02 PSG dominant as dominant they can be.

3:05 And it's so very impressive to once again see them in the final

3:08 and they go into the final as the favorites for me to win it.

3:11 Yeah.

3:11 And like Ali said, Luis,

3:12 just getting better and better as a season's gone

3:14 on, which we saw last season with them as well,

3:16 getting hot right now at just the right time,

3:18 which from Luis Enrique is a skill in itself, isn't it?

3:24 Yeah, exactly.

3:25 And they found a way of having the peak

3:28 of the of the season right at the at the right time.

3:31 Arriving into March, you can see the players are in the perfect condition.

3:34 All all of them of 90% of the players are ready

3:37 to to fight and I was checking what some of the of the numbers

3:42 through the season how listen rotating how many minutes they have been involved

3:47 and most of the players they didn't even get to the thousand minutes.

3:50 So the rotation has been working they managed

3:52 to rest players during the season not getting them

3:56 involved into the into the league fighting for the league

3:58 but understanding that that rotation is so important.

4:01 So now they arriving to in the best

4:03 form of the of the season because they didn't

4:05 have time also in preseason to have a good one to get ready for a long one.

4:08 They were involved in in that club world cup international.

4:13 I cannot remember how is called but that they didn't even have the rest.

4:17 So they knew that during the season you need

4:19 to give that opportunity to the players to rest.

4:21 So they were not involved in many of the games during the season.

4:24 That's why Carvalia was rested many many times.

4:28 Barcolola was switching with the way then exactly the same with a small

4:32 injury during the season but fresh in the in the last part.

4:35 So in the end they they found a way of doing it.

4:37 Some of the teams they just managed to continue

4:39 going on and on and on and when this matter

4:42 and I think we talked about this many times

4:45 March February March is the right moment in the season.

4:47 If you don't arrive with enough energy after a long season you're going

4:51 to have that low and then you're going to be out of every single competition.

4:53 So I think they managed to do it once again so well and again

4:58 Sal said and I think they are favorites to win the Champion League once again.

5:02 I I I will double down on everything that everybody said.

5:05 The amazing thing in looking at PSG and their progression during

5:09 the last two seasons is how much they they've how much they've improved.

5:13 Not just that they've improved and gotten better as as the season's gone on.

5:17 We've been able to see that about teams in the past.

5:19 first comes to mind, Manchester City.

5:22 Last couple of years apart, we've always sung their praises about how

5:26 they've been able to finish seasons seasons off,

5:29 how they've been able to run down whoever is top of the Premier League table,

5:32 but their improvement from first half of the season to second half is nothing

5:36 like the improvement that we've seen from PSG in the two half of the season.

5:40 You can make the argument that they were just about average,

5:43 a little bit more first half of the season.

5:45 second half of the season,

5:47 they have just gotten better and better to the point that that it

5:51 is beyond any argument who's the best team on the planet.

5:54 And now we're talking about this team in relation

5:57 to some of the best club teams that we've

5:59 seen looking to repeat as champions as as as Champions

6:02 League winners only the great Madrid have have done.

6:06 And now all of a sudden they're writing themselves into that conversation.

6:10 a team that just about got out of of of the league

6:13 phase that is is is down to Lewis

6:16 Enrique how he's managed this team and how these players

6:18 have stepped up to to those challenges particularly later on.

6:21 Yeah, and it's Arsenal now Don standing

6:23 in the way of another Champions League trophy for PSG.

6:26 Do our testers men pose a unique threat in any way to this PSG team?

6:32 Uh in their own way.

6:33 I mean just adding something to what the guys were saying.

6:36 I was watching the game live last night

6:37 and it was bizarre that I was watching Safenov

6:39 in goal and he kicked the ball down PSG's

6:43 left hand side out of play for a throwin

6:45 every single time and it was bugging me thinking

6:47 how can the goalkeeper not kick a ball straight

6:49 and keep it on the island since I read

6:52 the newspapers and the articles and seen it online.

6:54 Apparently it was a tactic to get PSG's players on the left

6:58 hand side of their pitch to stop Elise from building up.

7:01 So I had loads of numbers in and around him.

7:03 So, a little in-game management and in-game tactics from Lewis Enrique.

7:07 Small things, but things that make

7:08 a difference on top of having fantastic players,

7:11 but Arsenal have got to approach this game and they've got to play it their way.

7:15 They've got to play it the English way.

7:17 They've got to play it the Arsenal way.

7:18 They cannot get sucked into a game

7:20 of football because they'll lose it every single time.

7:23 They're going to have to be strong.

7:24 They're going to have to show the best version of themselves.

7:27 Set plays could be really important for them.

7:29 They've got to they've got to muscle up in every area.

7:32 Um they've got to fight tooth and nail

7:34 for every inch and that's what Arteta has to do.

7:37 I don't think he can go into this game

7:39 which we've been talking about Arsenal lately

7:41 being free and the shackles off and go

7:43 and play your football and go and entertain.

7:45 That's the last thing I would imagine his instructions

7:48 are going into a Champions League final against PSG.

7:51 Do you see this being really physical battle Stevie?

7:54 Absolutely.

7:54 Arsenal have to make it that.

7:56 You know, as much as we talk about the running

7:59 that PSG's players did for for the team and for themselves,

8:04 Arsenal have to put the pressure on them

8:06 and force them into making mistakes at the back.

8:09 And then you have to trust your defense.

8:11 Um, any other way then I think they they put themselves in trouble.

8:17 They certainly can't sit tight and let PSG come at them.

8:21 I mean that front three is absolutely scary.

8:23 You know Arsenal have to do in my opinion

8:25 what PSG did against Bayern if they can

8:28 get themselves ahead and then they can make

8:31 a statement and keep things tight higher up the field

8:34 not sitting at the top of their their own

8:36 box and then they can go and emulate what

8:39 PSG did to Bayern but yeah I'm with Dawn they have to go and do it their way.

8:44 See as though we do have Bundesliga Al on from Barcelona I'll be it.

8:48 Let's talk a little bit about Bayern if we can Al.

8:50 Will they be having any regrets about the semi-final?

8:52 Will they be looking back at anything and wish they'd done it differently?

8:58 Uh, since you referenced Bundesliga,

9:01 I would so I would just answer that question by saying yeah.

9:05 Yes, they will have all sorts of issues with not not

9:11 necessarily their performance because in watching

9:15 Bayern Munich playing against PSG, you quickly recognize, yeah,

9:18 these are the two best teams in Europe,

9:20 but I think there are moments in which Bayern

9:23 Munich and Vincent company would look back and say,

9:25 "Good lord." when the match got out of control in the first leg,

9:30 when it became 5-2 so very quickly, in those moments,

9:35 you would want a team of this caliber to be able to slow

9:38 down the play to not get in that back and forth with PSG.

9:41 Sometimes with to hang on to the ball and actually have

9:44 control of the possession of the ball and not just uh

9:47 expose your center backs and your outside backs to 1 v

9:49 one situations against some of the most dynamic players in the world.

9:52 And Bayern Munich were unable to recognize that in the first leg.

9:56 Look, you give up five goals in a semi-finals or Champions League,

10:00 more than likely you're going to lose.

10:03 Now, to their credit,

10:05 they show that they had enough to come back and make it competitive,

10:08 make it 5-4, and give themselves an opportunity at home.

10:12 But I don't think it's a secret that Bayern

10:14 Munich has been struggling defensively over the last month.

10:18 Certainly struggled defensively against PSG,

10:20 struggled defensively against Heidenheim, struggled defensively against Mines.

10:24 and those things are going to show up and they showed up

10:25 in the worst time possible and of course PSG took advantage of that.

10:29 So for Bayern Munich I think there will be

10:31 some regret in the sense that we were right there.

10:35 We're very close and had we taken care of some of the smaller details

10:40 in the game that make all the difference

10:42 especially against a team of the quality of PSG.

10:44 we may just be going to the final.

10:46 They did not and now they focus on yeah they won the Bundesliga.

10:51 Pocal is they're looking ahead to that final

10:54 and then beyond that they'll probably look

10:56 back to this Champions League as what might have been or what could have been.

10:59 And of course let's lean on your experience of Athletici now if we

11:02 can Luis given the fact that they were the other team that were eliminated.

11:05 Are we seeing their ceiling the way that this team's

11:08 built that they'll be third or fourth in La Liga

11:10 each year and have a deep run in the Champions

11:12 League but ultimately be knocked out by a better team?

11:18 Yeah, and it's been um the life of Atletico Madrid

11:22 supporter for the past 12 15 years or something or so.

11:26 A team that is been I was reading that he they took

11:29 I think one trophy in the last 10 years is 2016 until today.

11:33 They only won one Copa del Rey and that was about it.

11:37 And that's something that even though that this year they managed to get

11:40 into the semi-final of the the Champions League that that's something that no

11:44 Barcelona did or no many big teams did but definitely something

11:48 that for the supporters of Atletico Madrid

11:50 they are not anymore is not anymore enough.

11:53 Atletico Madrid was built to to do something else.

11:55 I think that uh they decided to throw away the league quite a long time ago

11:59 and now they try to fight to to get in the third position but I think

12:02 Simeon was very clear the other day when he was saying yeah but it's not enough

12:06 the supporters and the club wants to win

12:09 things in the end is what it's all about.

12:11 So I think that they will regret how they play that that game.

12:14 I think they could have done a little bit more.

12:17 We saw Atletico Madrid a little bit afraid or a little bit hanging at the back,

12:21 not trying to throw because when you arrive

12:23 to that that stage where it's only about one game,

12:26 you have to go with everything.

12:27 And I think that if they look back at to the to that game,

12:31 they will miss a few things that up front.

12:33 We didn't see anything from Griezmann, from Julian Alvare, from Simeon,

12:38 from no one else, not even the players who came out in the event.

12:40 So a pity that Atletico Madrid is not once again the Champions League final

12:44 but Atletico Madrid needs to think about

12:46 the future in trying to change what it is.

12:49 The drama of Atletico Madrid the past few year is that to arrive

12:52 there almost there third position fourth position but never to grab a trophy.