Paris Saint-Germain is no match for the “superior” Arsenal

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said he had no idea how long it would take to turn his team into a European force again after their humiliating 2-0 Champions League defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday.

The French champions, who lost their talisman Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid in the summer and look like a team in transition, suffered their first defeat of the season.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal the lead before half-time and although PSG hit the woodwork twice, they were kept comfortably under control by the Premier League side.

Luis Enrique, who left striker Ousmane Dembélé out for disciplinary reasons, accepted responsibility for the defeat but appeared to question his team’s fighting spirit.

“Today we were far from the standards you need in a game of this type. “Arsenal was much better in terms of pressure and intensity, they won every duel,” Luis Enrique told reporters.

“It’s impossible to play for a positive result if you don’t win any of your duels on the pitch. Their defenders anticipated our attackers and our defenders did not anticipate their attackers. Arsenal were superior.”

The Spaniard led PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season when they beat his old club Barcelona in the quarter-finals, with Mbappé scoring twice and Dembélé also scoring to turn the tie around in the second leg.

They sit at the top of Ligue 1 and beat Girona in their first Champions League group game, but Luis Enrique said Arsenal represent a big step up in quality for his side.

“I can’t really assess the level of our team, we have to wait until the end of the season,” he said.

“That was our first big rival at a higher level. We knew from the first minute that they were going to put a lot of pressure on us and they did it aggressively and we couldn’t withstand that pressure.”

“(Arsenal manager) Mikel (Arteta) has been here for five years, I have been in Paris for a year and two months. I don’t know where we are. I have a clear idea of ​​where we want to be,” but I don’t know how much time it will take.