Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was thrilled that his side managed a victory over Paris Saint-Germain, going up against the french Champion toe-to-toe, and going home with the three points.
The threat posed by the Frenched defending Champion was neutralised by goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka in the first half, setting up a result that will be widely celebrated around the globe.
Additionally, Arteta believes that this win will give the gunners a huge confidence boost when they eventually play some of the top players in the Champions League going forward, as many of his players have only recently reached double digits in their UCL careers.
Thinking back on his happiest moments during the special night, he remarked:
“We can match them up against a team that raises the level, especially when one of the big teams come here, and still create a performance to beat them and deserve to win, it’s a good sign. “
“We played one of the best teams in the world, they are super dominant in the league, they have so much quality, understanding and tactical options, and we dealt with it really well, with a lot of personality.”
“We were very determined, we wanted to be owning that pitch, playing the way we wanted to and in the first half, I think we were very impressive with the performance and the two goals that we scored.”
“I think they were really looking forward to it. They showed a lot of courage, that’s what I’m demanding, playing with a lot of courage against these teams. When the opponent is coming here, the opponents have to feel that. We are flowing, we want to play forward and we want to generate chances; the crowd was unbelievable again.”
“Then obviously this is Europe, they had the ability to make you play deeper, start to play a game that we didn’t really want to play, but when we are forced, we are happy to do. I think overall, considering where we are coming from, the amount of games we are playing, I’m really happy.”
As Arsenal did against Leicester City three days prior, they led by two goals going into the second half, but that lead rapidly faded. Despite a lot of pressure from Paris, they managed to seal the Victory, and Mikel Arteta was happy with that.
A second consecutive clean sheet to kick off the Champions League season was recorded for the first time since 2007, and it was just another highlight for Mikel on a night where everything went right – even if he is still seeking further improvements.
For the first time since 2007, a clean sheet to start the Champions League season was recorded twice in a row for the Gunners. Mikel however reiterates that his side still needs to improve, that it was just another highlight of a night when everything went perfectly.
“What happened the other day is a learning process,” he evaluated. “It happened for a reason in the first minute, in the first five minutes we conceded a goal and two yellow cards. The team needs to improve and to improve you need to learn sometimes from things that you don’t like so much and I’m really happy with what we’ve done.”
“Both boxes are fundamental for you to earn the right to win games and today we were very efficient even though in the second half, I thought we should have scored another one at least.”
