PSG boss Luis Enrique makes Arsenal feelings clear with comments on style of play

Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique has called Arsenal "one of the best teams in Europe" ahead of their Champions League showdown.

Arsenal host PSG at the Emirates on Tuesday and will be looking to pick up their first win, having drawn 0-0 with Atalanta earlier this month. And Enrique was full of praise for the Gunners and manager Mikel Arteta ahead of the clash.

"I think they are one of the best teams in Europe at the moment," Enrique told reporters. "With the ball they are a team very close to the top European level and without the ball they are also very good.

"I would even say that they are one of the best teams in the world without the ball. They are a team with a real identity. We are similar but also have different styles of play." Enrique also hailed Arteta, having briefly played alongside him at Barcelona.

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"I have good memories of him as a team-mate. He had a great career as a player, he had a very successful end to his career," Enrique continued. "We haven't faced off against each other since we've both been coaching.

"Even if it's only five minutes before the game, I'd like to talk to him and it will be a pleasure to be able to greet him on Tuesday. He's one of the best coaches on the market right now and he's helped Arsenal become a club that wins titles again. He's a great coach and a great person."

Arteta, meanwhile, is looking forward to the "very good test" of going up against Enrique. "I'm a huge admirer of him," he said. "He has an unbelievable personality, huge character, huge energy, always very supportive with young players.

"What I love about him is wherever he's been, as a player or a manager, his fingerprints are all over the place. You can sense it's his team the way his players behave, the way they want to attack and dominate games.

"The spirit, the energy they have, he has this unbelievable power with all the clubs he's been at, with the Spain national team. And then his approach to life, to his profession – it's something to really look at and I learnt a lot of things from him.

"I admire his honesty. He's straightforward – he will look in your eyes and tell you what he thinks. In the end, players appreciate that. They might like it more or less, depending on how it happens, but I have had two or three players here who were with him in the national team, and they always said the same thing, they all enjoy playing under him.

"When somebody can make you feel like that in this profession, it's a big quality to have. He's won pretty much every competition you can imagine already in his career, he has transformed a club that has a very clear identity. It's a very good test for all of us."

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