Luis Enrique confessed Arsenal showed greater desire and quality than Paris Saint-Germain after his side’s humbling 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Goals from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz ensured the Gunners continued their unbeaten start to the newly-restructured Champions League, with PSG out-fought and out-thought for most of the encounter.
Speaking after the game, Enrique admitted Arsenal were better in all aspects of the clash in north London, but also appeared to question the desire and work-rate of his players.
He told reporters: “Today we were far away from the standards you need in this kind of match. Arsenal were much better in terms of pressure, intensity, they won every duel.
“It’s impossible to play for a positive result when you don’t win any of your duels on the pitch, their defenders anticipated our attackers and our defenders didn’t anticipate their attackers. Arsenal were superior.”
The French giants were unbeaten in all competitions prior to Tuesday’s clash but fell flat in arguably their biggest test of the season so far, having not yet faced Ligue 1 title rivals Monaco or Marseille, and manager Enrique admitted he isn’t sure how good his team is right now.
“I can’t properly evaluate the level of our team, we will have to wait until the end of the season,” he added.
“This was our first big rival at a higher level. We knew from the first minute they would press us high, they did it aggressively and we couldn’t cope with that pressure.
“[Arsenal manager] Mikel [Arteta] has been here for five years, I’ve been at Paris for one year and two months. I don’t know where we are. I have a clear idea where I want us to be, but I don’t know how much time I will need.”
PSG‘s next Champions League game comes against PSV Eindhoven later this month, while Arsenal host Shakhtar Donetsk.
