Premier League legend Nicky Butt has warned Arsenal that Paris Saint-Germain will be almost impossible to beat when the two sides meet in the Champions League final later this month.
Butt believes Mikel Arteta must consider dropping striker Viktor Gyokeres in favour of more pace to exploit the French champions’ defensive vulnerabilities on the counter-attack.
Arsenal’s tactical dilemma
Arsenal have reached the Champions League final following a gritty semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid, setting up a final showdown against the French giants in Budapest at the end of the month.
Despite the Gunners having finished the League phase of the competition with a perfect record before knocking out Bayer Leverkusen and Sporting CP before dismantling Diego Simeone’s side, former Manchester United midfielder Butt believes they lack the necessary speed to punish a PSG side that looked surprisingly solid against Bayern Munich.
Butt argues that while Arsenal’s defensive structure is strong, their current attacking configuration may struggle to transition quickly enough to catch the French giants off-balance during the showpiece event.
Butt’s warning to Arteta
Speaking to Paddy Power, Butt expressed his belief that Luis Enrique’s side are the overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy in Budapest.
Butt said: “I don’t see anyone beating PSG. Arsenal don’t have any counter-attacking threat, they don’t have anyone to do that with
pace.
“I thought defending would be PSG’s downfall against Bayern, especially with Achraf Hakimi out as Marquinhos struggles for pace at his age. But they were solid. Their attacking players are just wow. They are out and out favourites to win it but in a one-off game…
“I’d have PSG massive favourites, 70-30. When they hit their sweet spot no one is stopping them.
I can see the Arsenal game plan – sit in, play tight, defend well. But they’re going to have to play Leandro Trossard because he’s the only one with pace. If they go with Viktor Gyokeres, he can’t counter attack at all so they’ll struggle.
“Set pieces will be massive, I thought Bayern would be better on those as PSG are a small team. I wouldn’t put it past Arsenal by any stretch, I wouldn’t be shocked if they won it. But if PSG hit the ground running in that game they’ll be unstoppable.”
Arteta hails ‘immense’
Gyokeres
Arteta was full of praise for Gyokeres following the striker’s tireless contribution during the dominant semi-final victory over Atletico on Tuesday.
The Gunners boss chose to highlight the Swede’s psychological impact on the crowd and his tactical discipline in setting a defensive tone as they sealed a 1-0 win on the night, going through with a 2-1 advantage on aggregate.
The Spaniard said: “He was immense. You can see the reaction from the crowd every time he had the ball, his work rate and what he’s giving the team is just incredible. You talk about Gyokeres and he’s the first one to set the tone, the rhythm, and the habits that he shows when we don’t have Lthe ball] and that’s a team effort.”
