Clarence Seedorf made a huge claim about Arsenal after watching Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich play out one of the highest-scoring games in Champions League history on Tuesday evening.
The European giants met at the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. The match had the makings of a classic, and it did not disappoint as PSG won 5-4.
Bayern took the lead in the 17th minute when Harry Kane converted from the penalty spot. But PSG came roaring back and held a 5-2 lead with 30 minutes of the match remaining. Bayern scored two unanswered goals in the remaining half-an-hour to set up a mouth-watering second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Clarence Seedorf Talks Up Arsenal's Champions League Hopes
TV pundit Clarence Seedorf before a match
Arsenal will take on Atletico Madrid in the other semi-final. The Gunners have been mightily impressive in Europe's premier cup competition and are hoping 2026 is the year they can end their wait for a Champions League title.
After watching the nine-goal thriller at the Parc des Princes, Seedorf is now backing Arsenal to lift the trophy at the Budapest Arena at the end of May.
The Amazon Prime Video pundit, who won the Champions League on four occasions during his playing career, said after the match:
"Ask the goalkeepers if they’re happy. They are not happy, a clean sheet was always sacred for goalkeeper.
"We have seen a team like Arsenal making that difference this year, having so many clean sheets and coming all the way. So if I had to point out one team now, that would be capable to actually bring it home because of that capacity, actually it’s Arsenal."
He added, per the Standard: "Tell me one sport you can win without a proper defence? I don’t think it exists.
“Looking at the characteristic of the team, Arsenal is capable of doing this. Atletico Madrid are also capable of doing the things I am saying and they have a good attack eventually.
“Probably less in volume, Arsenal have more difficult in scoring goals than these two teams but they just need one because they know how to defend a zero eventually and that can make a difference.”
Thierry Henry Defends Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has been criticised for his style of play, which focuses on defence and is perhaps over-reliant on set-pieces going forward. Thierry Henry has defended the Spaniard, saying that people have to accept the way he sets his team up.
He said, per the Metro: "Atletico lost at The Emirates, I think it was 4-0 in the league phase, which doesn’t tell you a lot but it tells you it’s a game where we created, actually.
"But it will be different. The win, Arsenal against Newcastle, in terms of how we played wasn’t outstanding but it’s way better to go into that game with a win against Newcastle.
"So let’s see what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s not so much what I want to see, people are expecting or wanting Arsenal to play a certain way now, they didn’t the whole year. Why do you want them now to just go forward and start to create?
"They play a certain way, Mikel Arteta plays a certain way, we’re strong on set-pieces, solid, we don’t create a lot. I would just like to see a win, that will do for me and bring something to The Emirates.
"You have to be pragmatic sometimes. You cannot always be Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain, we play a different way. I think people have to accept the fact that Mikel Arteta goes about the game like that and hopefully we can win."