Luis Enrique praises Arsenal but disputes Mikel Arteta ‘better team’ claim | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta claimed members of the PSG bench told him that Arsenal were the better team on Wednesday night, but opposition manager Luis Enrique didn’t agree.

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Arsenal went to Paris on Wednesday needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against PSG, and within 10 minutes of the match they probably should have been ahead.

Declan Rice put a header just wide, before Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard had shots excellently saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Yet it was PSG who took the lead with a deflected effort from the edge of the box, and despite a few more big chances Arsenal’s only goal of the tie came when already 3-0 down on aggregate.

Speaking afterwards, Mikel Arteta suggested some of the PSG bench had told him Arsenal were the better side on the night.

“The feedback that I got straight away from their bench was that we were much better than them,” Arteta said. “When you look at the two games, who’s been their best player on the pitch? It’s been their goalkeeper. He’s made a difference for them in the tie.

“I think we were very close, much closer than what the results showed. But unfortunately, we are out.”

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Opposition manager Luis Enrique didn’t agree with the claim that Arsenal were better than PSG, but he did concede that the Gunners made their team suffer more than anyone else.

“I don’t agree at all,” Enrique began. “Arteta is a great friend, but I don’t agree completely. They played well. They played the way they wanted to.

“We scored more goals than them. Arsenal played well, we suffered a lot. I think it’s the game in which we suffered the most. [But] we deserve to be in the final. They’re a great team too, but again, we scored more goals.

“Mikel Arteta almost killed me. They managed to stretch every ball. The team shows they have a lot of talent.”

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Despite his claim that Arsenal played well on the night, Arteta did go on to say that his team need to feel the sting of elimination and look at what they can do better in the future.

“We are not there [in the final], and that has to hurt,” Arteta added. “If we want to win this competition and go there, we need to realise that. And there are certain things that are on us and you shouldn’t be just ‘understanding’ that we are out. That’s not the way I look at it.”