Pelatih Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Luis Enrique, melontarkan pujian tinggi kepada Arsenal menjelang pertemuan kedua klub di final Liga Champions 2025/2026. Pertandingan pamungkas ini dijadwalkan berlangsung pada Sabtu, 23 Mei 2026, pukul 23.00 WIB. Seperti dikutip dari Bola, The Gunners dinilai mampu menghadirkan ancaman nyata bagi skuad Les Parisiens.
Luis Enrique menyatakan bahwa Arsenal sepenuhnya pantas menjadi juara Premier League setelah menanti selama 22 tahun. Skuad asuhan Mikel Arteta tersebut mengunci gelar juara Liga Inggris setelah pesaing terdekat mereka, Manchester City, ditahan imbang 1-1 oleh Bournemouth.
Keberhasilan tersebut memicu pesta besar bagi para pemain Arsenal di Emirates Stadium hingga dini hari, bersama ribuan suporter yang memadati jalanan sekitar stadion. Skuad Meriam London kini bersiap melakoni laga terakhir Premier League melawan Crystal Palace pada Minggu, 24 Mei 2026, sebelum menerima trofi dan mengalihkan fokus ke final Liga Champions di Budapest pada 30 Mei.
Luis Enrique sangat memahami kekuatan yang dimiliki oleh calon lawannya. Meski demikian, pelatih asal Spanyol tersebut tetap optimistis skuadnya mampu memberikan perlawanan sengit demi mempertahankan gelar juara Liga Champions.
"I think they deserve to win the league. They had an amazing season," kata Luis Enrique dalam konferensi pers, seperti dikutip ESPN, Kamis (21/5/2026).
"We already played this Arsenal (in the semi-finals last season), so we know what they are capable of. Without the ball they are the best team in the world, and with the ball they can score many goals. It’s an amazing combination for them."
"It makes sense that we face them in the final. We can look forward to a really great final," imbuh Enrique.
Mentalitas Juara Racikan Arteta
Setelah tiga musim berturut-turut finis di posisi runner-up Premier League, keberhasilan Arsenal musim ini dinilai sebagai buah dari ketegasan dan determinasi sang manajer.
"When you look at Arsenal's statistics, you can see that Mikel Arteta is a leader as a coach who instills a winning mentality into the team," ujar Luis Enrique.
"They keep improving over the last few seasons; they love having the ball, but without the ball they are the best team in Europe."
"They won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final this year after reaching the semi-finals last season. They deserve to be there, and Arteta instills a competitive spirit into his players," sambung dia.
Strategi PSG Fokus pada Kekuatan Sendiri
PSG melangkah ke partai final setelah menyingkirkan Bayern Munchen di semifinal dengan agregat ketat 6-5. Luis Enrique kini menginstruksikan para pemainnya untuk berkonsentrasi penuh pada performa tim sendiri daripada mengkhawatirkan kekuatan Arsenal.
"The most important thing for us is to focus more on ourselves and not think too much about the opponent. That's what we will continue to do," katanya.
"We are talking about the best club competition in Europe, so of course there is an element of adaptation because the standards are very high."
"Bayern, for example, is a team that really likes to have the ball, so we had to adapt. But I think we also managed to raise our level of play and are proud to be back in the final," imbuh karena.
Menjelang laga krusial ini, tim medis PSG masih terus memantau kondisi penyerang Ousmane Dembele yang mengalami masalah pada betisnya. Di sisi lain, Achraf Hakimi diharapkan bisa segera kembali berlatih setelah sempat dibekap cedera paha.
