Arsenal vs PSG: Bukayo Saka must succeed where Mo Salah failed in crucial Nuno Mendes battle | OneFootball

One of the world’s top left-backs out for semi-final revenge after being bested at the Emirates once already this season

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Salah failed to register a goal or an assist in either match, while Mendes finished the tie with 13 tackles and having won 19 of his 23 ground duels.

The pair came face to face earlier on this season, when Arsenal beat PSG in October during the league phase.

Saka got the better of Mendes on that occasion - scoring as the Gunners ran out 2-0 winners - and the Portuguese will be out for revenge.

In many ways, the 22-year-old typifies how Luis Enrique’s young side have grown this season and, even in the space of six months, he is a different left-back to the one that Saka faced in October.

Dominant: Nuno Mendes kept Mohamed Salah quiet in both legs of PSG’s last-16 win over Liverpool in March

AP

Mendes’ display against Salah felt like a coming-of-age performance and he earned huge praise after it. Indeed, French newspaper L’Equipe hailed him as one of the best left-backs in the world.

Enrique believes that is the case and was lavish in his praise of Mendes when speaking about him last week.

“I think Nuno Mendes is a fighter plane, both in attack and defence,” he said. “I like players with this mentality, this personality.

“Whatever the game, he is always ready, at the highest level, at 100 per cent. Name me a player who never makes a mistake, who never has a bad day, who doesn’t get dizzy sometimes.

“He is a unique player. He is capable of attacking, of making the final pass, of scoring. He is capable of defending against one of the best players in the world. He has hardly been beaten in any action.”

Saka was a key player for Arsenal as they beat Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, getting plenty of joy against David Alaba.

Real Madrid suffered in the absence of left-back Ferland Mendy, who was injured, and Alaba did not have the pace to cope.

Mendes will be a completely different challenge and the 22-year-old also poses a huge threat going forward.

That was evident as PSG beat Aston Villa in the last eight to book a showdown with Arsenal.

Mendes scored in both legs and has found the net four times in total in this season’s Champions League, which is more than any other defender.

Under Enrique, the PSG full-backs are given license to get forward - both with and without the ball.

Such a style of play suits Mendes’ game, which is based on pace, and it may well be that he fights fire with fire in the task of stopping Saka. Attack could be the best form of defence for the PSG left-back.