The day before the match, Mikel Arteta relived some of the happy moments he had as a youngster at Paris Saint-Germain in the early 2000s.
He spoke of his respect for coach Luis Fernández, who gave him his first real opportunity when he was young, and spoke of the joy of playing with Ronaldinho.
The two men were roommates for 18 months and it was part of his job, Arteta hinted, to keep the brilliant Brazilian’s party animal in check.
Apparently old habits die hard. Arteta was at it again on Tuesday night when PSG arrived in north London. There he was, once again, spoiling all the fun.
It was a miserable night for Luis Enrique and his French champions as Arsenal overwhelmed them in the first half and held them at bay in the second when they recovered.
Arsenal continued their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable victory over PSG
Kai Havertz gave the Gunners the lead after connecting with a Leandro Trossard cross
Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to claim before the German striker headed home.
It would be nice to say that it was Arteta and his players who celebrated all night on the pitch, but PSG made them work too hard for it, especially after the break.
But, after they opened this season’s Champions League campaign with a draw at Atalanta last month, this 2-0 victory made it a deeply satisfying night for Arsenal.
PSG didn’t faint, but Arsenal made them look normal and vulnerable for long periods. In the first half, Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka wrung blood.
Arsenal were not at their best but they didn’t have to be. PSG may not be the favorites to win the Champions League, but they are among the contenders and Arsenal made beating them look relatively routine.
Arteta’s side face Shakhtar Donetsk next and can now approach the rest of the Champions League campaign with considerable optimism.
So much attention has been focused on their domestic rivalry with Manchester City that their claims to win this competition are sometimes overlooked.
They deserve to be among the favorites. With City and Real Madrid, they, not PSG, seem like a team to fear.
Under the direction of coach Luis Enrique, PSG has turned its back on the galactic culture that has guided much of its national success since the club was purchased by the Qatari state more than a decade ago.
Nuno Mendes had the chance to equalize before the break, but his shot went wide of the post.
Bukayo Saka doubled Arsenal’s lead with a direct free kick from the edge of the area
The 23-year-old youth player was the captain of his team after Martin Odegaard was out due to injury.
The English striker’s goal put the hosts on top of a match in which they rarely had problems.
Gone are the days when PSG’s lineups included Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. They are all gone now and Luis Enrique had gone out of his way to try and form a team rather than a collection of individuals.
That principle was underlined when he and his team arrived in London on Monday without Ousmane Dembélé, the closest thing they have left to a superstar, after Luis Enrique banished him following a disagreement between the two.
However, PSG’s philosophy could not hide Arsenal’s superiority. It was a slow and cautious start, but although PSG had more possession, there was a greater conviction and threat to Arsenal’s work.
After a quarter of an hour, Arsenal’s pace and intention accelerated. Havertz escaped on the overlap on the right and slid a ball across the goal that PSG cut out but their resistance did not last much longer.
Leandro Trossard had also started to look dangerous and after 20 minutes he accelerated through the PSG midfield and got inside. He looked up, saw Havertz running and launched a brilliant cross into his path.
Havertz rose to face him and, although he could feel the huge body of Gianluigi Donnarumma rushing towards him to try to clear the danger, Havertz kept his eyes on the ball and headed past the goalkeeper while punching into the air.
However, seven minutes later, PSG came close to equalizing. Their brilliant Portuguese left-back, Nuno Mendes, played one-two with Bradley Barcola and unleashed a left-footed shot that deflected off David Raya and grazed the outside of the post.
Arsenal had another breakaway a minute later when PSG’s other full-back Achraf Hakimi beat Riccardo Calafiori for pace on the right and pounced on Raya. Hakimi tried to smash his shot past Raya at the near post, but Raya was equal to it and deflected it back for a corner.
Arsenal deserve to be among the favorites, like Manchester City and Real Madrid (in the photo, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti)
Mikel Merino played his first minutes as an Arsenal player after recovering from a shoulder injury
Luis Enrique’s team may not be one of the favorites for the Champions League, but it is still one of the contenders
The Gunners made their mark with their victory on Tuesday night, which really could have been by more than two goals.
Arsenal withstood PSG’s flurry of challenge and then pushed further ahead. Saka was fouled by Nuno Mendes on the touchline and the Arsenal winger took the free kick himself. When he hit it at the near post, Gabriel Martinelli jumped the ball and Thomas Partey and Gabriel tried to give it a finishing touch.
They both missed it. Donnarumma also missed and the ball bounced into the back of the net. The Arsenal players ran to celebrate with Saka, who had begun to exert more and more influence on the game from Arsenal’s right. PSG could not cope.
Arsenal missed a golden opportunity to put the game out of reach early in the second half when Havertz lofted a ball into the path of Martinelli. Martinelli had time to steady himself for his volley and, although he hit it sweetly, it was too close to Donnarumma, who grabbed it on the second attempt.
A standing ovation echoed around the pitch midway through the half as Arsenal’s highly-rated summer signing Mikel Merino finally ran onto the pitch to make his long-awaited debut for his new club.
Merino had been injured shortly after arriving in England when he suffered a shoulder injury in training when Gabriel fell on him. His return to fitness was another boost for an Arsenal team that has had a good start to the season.
His presentation, however, coincided with an intense period of pressure from PSG. Joao Neves fired a shot into the ground that bounced off Raya and hit the Arsenal crossbar. Shortly after, Raya had to spin in the air to avoid a brutally deflected shot from Lee Kang-in.
Randal Kolo Muani’s introduction gave life to the visitors in the second half
But Arsenal’s defense finally managed to hold firm and keep another clean sheet in Europe.
Riccardo Calafiori (right) and Fabián Ruiz (left) collide the ball after a referee’s decision
Arsenal were struggling to keep the ball now, constantly ceding possession to PSG who were threatening to fight their way back into the game. Only a superb interception by William Saliba prevented substitute Randal Kolo Muani from taking the ball home with 15 minutes remaining.
Arteta brought in Gabriel Jesus for Trossard in another attempt to inject new energy into his team and regain control, but Arsenal soon had to survive a huge appeal from PSG for a penalty after the ball bounced in a challenge between Barcola and He came out and hit Calafiori in the arm. The arbitrator dismissed the appeals.