Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side can win their first European game of the season on Tuesday (Image: Getty)
Declan Rice is looking forward to Arsenal’s inaugural match against Paris St-Germain in the revamped Champions League, likening it to a ‘semi-final’ level encounter.
The elimination of the traditional Group Stage has escalated the intensity and importance of Arsenal’s first home game, marking a significant shift from prior years.
Rice acknowledges that the team is adapting to the changes following their journey to the quarter-finals last season.
He commented: “It’s obviously a different format now but we’re coming up against tougher teams than you would in a normal group stage format, we’ve got more tougher teams now.
“Obviously we’ve got an exciting night here which is our second game. You normally find these games in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, so our second group game is massive.
Declan Rice is looking forward to the clash with PSG (Image: Getty)
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“It’s a big game because we need to get points on the board in this new format, so we’ll be ready and we’re excited because we’ve not played PSG before. They are a top team, so we’re going to be ready for that one.”
Arsenal drew their opening game of the Champions League earlier this month when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Serie A side Atalanta. Mikel Arteta’s side have impressed since that draw, and their chances of victory on Tuesday night will certainly be boosted by PSG’s injury crisis.
The Ligue 1 outfit could be without up to eight players for the clash, with Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marco Asensio, Desire Doue and Vitinha among their doubts for the trip to north London. Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe and Goncalo Ramos remain long-term absentees.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1954899/Arsenal-news-PSG-injuries-Declan-Rice