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Bukayo Saka has hinted that Mikel Arteta has something special planned for Arsenal in the Champions League second leg against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on May 7. He was reluctant to reveal any tactical change and stated that the Gunners were focused on the Bournemouth clash in the Premier League on Saturday (May 3).
Speaking to Sky Sports, Saka stressed that Arsenal were not thinking about PSG ahead of the Bournemouth face-off. He added that they would only start concentrating on PSG after the match on Saturday (via SPORTbible):
"I'm not telling you big man, I'm not telling you! We're preparing for Bournemouth, we want to win that game, and after that's done we'll focus fully on Paris and give our all to that."
Mikel Merino also spoke about the PSG clash after the first leg earlier this week and claimed that the Arsenal players were keen on heading to Paris. He stated that they were confident of getting the result (via Mirror):
"I think you have seen a team that can compete against a huge side like Paris. I don't know if you have seen Paris in the whole season but they are a really dominant team, they want to keep everybody in their own box and we managed to play a lot - we created big chances. You can never give up on this team because I think we have proved that we are always going to fight until the end. I think we have the technical quality and, most importantly, we have the motivation to go to the second leg and win this for our fans and for ourselves."
Arsenal are 1-0 down in the UEFA Champions League semifinal after the home leg. Ousmane Dembele scored the lone goal of the match when the two sides met at the Emirates.
Arsenal star drawing inspiration from Real Madrid clash
Mikel Merino also went on to claim that Arsenal have shown that they can deliver on the big stage. He insisted that the Real Madrid win was the big boost (via Mirror):
"Those experiences are massive for us - they prove we can win anywhere, the Bernabeu, or against any side in the Premier League. It gives us a lot of confidence. Paris is a tough place to go but we have always proved we can compete against anybody. With all due respect to anybody, I think we are going to win the second leg."
Arsenal defeated Real Madrid 5-1 in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. They won 3-0 at home and went on to win 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist, who has been with the company for around 9.5 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee