Arsenal head to Paris for their Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint Germain looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit and reach their first final since 2006
Mikel Arteta has been warned Arsenal will face an “insane” night in the Champions League. Paris Saint Germain defender Achraf Hakimi warned the red-hot atmosphere will blow Arsenal away as the French champions look for their FOURTH English scalp this season.
The Parc des Princes has already seen the French champions beat Manchester City and Aston Villa at home while they also knocked out Liverpool over two legs. Arsenal boss Arteta faces a daunting task to overturn a first leg deficit from the Emirates last week and Hakimi insists PSG and their fans will make it even harder.
Hakimi said: “It will be a very special night in Paris. The atmosphere will be insane and everybody will be behind us inside and outside the stadium. We need them to support us until the end.
“The whole city has been following it, there’s a will, it will be a crazy atmosphere and the pressure will be important and that can be important. Against Manchester City, for example, we were down and behind in the game and they helped us overturn that.
“The fans know how hard we have worked to get here, how far we have come and we want to do it for them. The team is really confident, we really want the game to start and we believe we can go to the final so we really want it to start now.”
PSG have been boosted by Ousmane Dembele declaring himself fit after suffering a hamstring injury scare at the Emirates but he has trained for the last two days and is expected to start.
The French giants are also looking to win their first Champions League trophy and Hakimi says the experience of losing to Borussia Dortmund last year will give them an extra edge against Arsenal.
Hakimi added: “It’s certainly among the most exciting games I will have played because what it means for the club, the objective is to win the competition and we know that we are one step away.
“We are calm because we played the semi final last year, we have the experience and we know what we need to do, what we did well then and what we did bad. We will be ready.”