Champions League Showdown: Arsenal versus Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday at 8PM, exclusively live on Premier Sports 1
Tidbit about Mikel Arteta: As a newbie at Paris Saint-Germain, he used to room with Ronaldinho during hotel stopovers. Given Ronaldinho’s well-known status as a party-guy, one might wonder whether they adhered to the same sleeping schedules. Arteta looks back and says, “He was exemplary around me,” a comment he accompanies with a grin.
Regrettably, no one probed Arteta about his most memorable nights out with the famed Brazilian. Yet there was a glint in Arteta’s eyes when reminiscing about that pivotal stage in his career, ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League match against PSG on Tuesday. He fondly remembers the faces and places that shaped him, and the exhilarating sense of potential.
Despite spending much of his previous press conference discussing the contentious 2-2 draw with Manchester City, the atmosphere this time around was undeniably optimistic.
There were many occasions when the events he witnessed at PSG seemed somewhat surreal to Arteta, as though he was still coming to terms with them. After joining in January 2001 from Barcelona B on an 18-month long loan as an 18-year-old, he made his professional debut for the team, and in a Champions League 1-1 tie against AC Milan at San Siro.
As Arteta recounts, “In the tunnel, I saw Berlusconi, Maldini, Shevchenko… I was like, ‘Really?’ I was thrown into the deep end.”
Arteta’s ascension to Barcelona’s first team was thwarted by a slew of superstars, one of them being Luis Enrique, the current manager of PSG. Arteta’s swift move to Paris was nerve-wracking. “It was scary for me and my family,” admits Arteta. “We were in Barcelona when we received the call: ‘Pack your bags immediately and fly out to Paris.’ Looking at the roster of big names at PSG, I was doubtful: ‘Are they certain?'”
Indeed, those were big names.
Arteta has fond memories of his time at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), where he arrived as part of a struggling team. The club was undergoing a period of flux, having recently re-hired Luis Fernandez as manager. The inconsistency of their performance, marked by an equal number of victories and losses, posed considerable challenges.
However, the faith exhibited by Fernandez in Arteta made a significant difference. “Luis Fernandez was the first to place faith in me, a crucial part of any young player’s development,” Arteta acknowledges. “I am eternally in debt to him for this.”
Arteta also attributes much of his development to Mauricio Pochettino and Gabriel Heinze, both of whom played mentoring roles in his career. This guidance not only shaped his career as a football player, but also sparked a keen interest in management.
After Ronaldinho’s arrival from Gremio in July 2001, he established a new dynamic to the club. Arteta also credits him with transforming Barcelona when he moved there in 2003. He recalls how he carried out most of the defensive work to facilitate tacticians Ronaldinho and Jay-Jay Okocha’s creativity upfront.
Describing Ronaldinho, Arteta comments, “Imagine having a player of such calibre, capable of singlehandedly transforming two different clubs. His infectious energy and radiant smile could lighten up any room. His talent was unparalleled; his abilities in training often boggled the mind.”
As he has not faced PSG as a player or manager, Arteta is aware of the advantage provided by his relationship with Luis Enrique, whose charisma and energy he greatly admires. He says, “His unwavering support for younger players and the indelible mark he leaves in every club manifest his remarkable caliber.”
Clearly, the influence of Luis at PSG is profound; his team carries his hallmark of decisive ball domination and immediate reclamation upon losing control. Their aggressive approach and confrontational style are Luis’s signature, irrespective of opposition or circumstances.
Anticipation surrounds a potential absence of Ben White in Arteta’s lineup, owing to White’s lack of participation in the last two Arsenal games due to a groin injury, and he also missed Monday afternoon’s training. Meanwhile, Riccardo Calafiori had a shaky recovery from a muscle issue following Saturday’s 4-2 victory against Leicester at home, despite managing to participate in training afterwards. – Guardian.