Facing the press, William Saliba, 25, Arsenal central defender, placed the final against Paris Saint-Germain under the sign of a fairly head-on duel: better attack against better defense. The source shared above all shows measured confidence, but also a reading that deserves to be nuanced.
Saliba « It will be difficult, because we know who we are going to face.”
“We are already champions, the championship is over. So of course we are a little more focused on the Champions League final than the last game against Crystal Palace (…) We have the best defense this season. We already had the best defense last season too. Hopefully we can keep a clean sheet against PSG. It will be difficult because we know who we are going to face. But everything is possible with our team. They have the best offense, we have the best defense.”
William Saliba’s words have the merit of being clear, almost perfect to launch a final: Arsenal advances with its defensive solidity, while PSG would first be defined by its offensive power. But this opposition, attractive on paper, remains a little crude.
Paris is not only a team capable of scoring, accelerating and causing chaos in the last thirty meters. Luis Enrique’s group also proved that it knew how to defend together, control weak times and protect its balance without giving up playing. To reduce this final to an attack against a defense is therefore to forget an essential part of the current PSG: a team which seeks to stifle as much as to strike. Saliba respects the opponent, but Paris will obviously have arguments to refuse this too simple reading.
This final could precisely be played in this gray zone: Arsenal will have to defend at a very high level, but also exist with the ball. PSG will have to attack without revealing themselves. In short, the beautiful duel exists, but it is less binary than the poster “best attack versus best defense†.
