What TalkSPORT Pundit Is Urging Arsenal Players, Fans to Do Before Facing PSG | OneFootball

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain will clash in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, with 180 minutes separating one of these two teams from reaching the final. These two sides met in the league phase, but one pundit is saying to forget that contest.

The Gunners advanced to the semifinals after a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarterfinal, wrapping up a commanding 5-1 aggregate victory to book a date with PSG.

Meanwhile, PSG, who had a 5-1 aggregate lead of their own, needed to hold on for dear life as the second leg ended 5-4 on aggregate.

Arsenal must forget about the PSG side they faced in the league phase

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

On Thursday, talkSPORT’s Kevin Hatchard warned Arsenal supporters that looking back at the game during the league phase won’t be helpful this time as the Ligue 1 side have a completely different squad than when they faced them earlier in the competition.

“Any Arsenal fan, by the way—and this isn’t a dig—but I genuinely think any Arsenal fan who says, ‘We beat them in the league phase,’ is irrelevant,” Hatchard said.

“It’s a completely different vibe. It’s a completely different confidence level. They’ve changed the way they play since then to some extent. And it was the league phase, and Paris thought, ‘Well, we can take a defeat here and cruise through.’ It nearly didn’t work out that way. But jug that game, forget that, that’s gone. But the way they’ve played over Real Madrid—very, very impressive.

“I’ve said to you guys before, and I still believe it: I think Arsenal are the best out-of-possession team in the world. That’s the real challenge for Paris. Can they break them down over the two legs?”