Days after declaring his "sympathy" and respect for Pep Guardiola, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken highly of another influential Spanish manager, who he will face in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Luis Enrique will lead Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday from 21:00, in the most interesting match of the second round of the Champions League.
Arteta and Enrique were together at Barcelona in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Arsenal manager was at the start of his playing career, while Enrique's was coming to an end.
Arteta has said that he has learned many things from Enrique as a player and now as a coach. Arteta said on Monday that Enrique "brings a smile to his face".
"I am a great admirer of him. I remember his personality, extraordinary character, energy, great support for young players. What I like about him is that wherever he was, as a player or as a coach, he left an indelible mark. You can see it's his team. You can see that Paris is his team", said Arteta, not stopping the praises for the other Spanish coach.
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"He has this incredible energy. Then there is his approach to life, profession. It is something that can be taken as an example and I have learned many things from him", added the Arsenal coach.
Arteta spent a lot of time last week talking about Pep Guardiola and Manchester City after the 2-2 draw in the big English derby. This draw seems to have ignited the rivalry between the two teams.
He has long been seen as Guardiola's pet, but it seems that Enrique has also had an influence on Arteta.
"I like his honesty. He looks you in the eye and tells you what he thinks. I think that the players appreciate this in the end", said Arteta.
He had a one-year loan period at PSG in the 2000/01 edition, while he played with players like Ronaldinho and Nicolas Anelka. According to Arteta, PSG is the highest level team you can find in European football.
Enrique's team leads the French league with five wins and a draw in the first six rounds. In the Champions League, Paris started with a very difficult victory over Girona, 1:0. The challenge was decided by a 90th minute own goal.
Arsenal started their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw against Atalanta in Bergamo, Italy. Now he is looking for his first victory.
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In Paris, they are aware that a difficult match awaits them in London.
"It is very difficult to play against Arsenal. It is a very important match for us. There are three important points, especially with the new format of the Champions League. Our team is very united, we play as a group. This is the weapon of this team and we will see this tomorrow", said Achraf Hakimi, PSG's defender.
Enrique has also spoken respectfully about Arteta.
"I have already worked with Mikel Arteta. We were teammates at Barcelona for one season and I have many good memories of him. I can't wait to meet him tomorrow, to be able to talk to him. He is one of the best managers currently and has completely changed Arsenal. Excellent trainer and excellent person", said Enrique.
In the Premier League, Arsenal is having a strong competition with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea. Liverpool leads with 15 points after six rounds. City and Arsenal have 14 each, while Chelsea and Aston Villa have 13.
On Tuesday night, there will be a full nine games of the second round.
From 18:45 there are meetings Salzburg - Brest and Stuttgart – Sparta Prague.
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From 21:00, Barcelona is considered the big favorite against Young Boys, the same as Inter against Crvena Zvezda. Even Borussia Dortmund expects victory over Celtic, while an interesting match will be the one between Bayer Leverkusen and Milan.
At Manchester City, they don't even discuss the victory over Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia, while the next game on Tuesday night is between PSV and Sporting. Nine more games are on Wednesday night.
