Last season was the time for Arsenal to prove that they deserved to return to the biggest football stage in Europe. The 2024-2025 campaign could be the year Arsenal aim for the championship.
After 5 years, coach Mikel Arteta has built a competitive Arsenal team. Although they have not won the Premier League or Champions League, no one can deny the progress of The Gunners under Arteta.
Since returning to the Champions League last season, the recent 2-0 victory over PSG seems to be the Gunners' best performance. They know how to control the game and show maturity in many aspects.
The "Gunners" reached the quarter-finals last season after 6 years of absence and had to stop at a very powerful Bayern Munich. But Arsenal are now more confident and have improved significantly. Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka both played impressively in the victory over PSG. When leading 2-0, Arsenal actively defended, taking pressure instead of trying to score more goals.
This is something Arsenal lacked last season as many new players participated in the tournament for the first time. There is still a long way to go, but at least Arteta's side have picked up four points from two tough games.
"I think we have shown a lot of maturity in the way we play. We have left our mark on how we want to perform in Europe against top teams. And I really like that," said Arteta after the win over PSG.
PSG are no longer a strong team like before, but they still carry the weight that can threaten any opponent. But the Ligue 1 champions were completely overwhelmed by Arsenal.
Havertz and Leandro Trossard worked well to open the scoring in the 20th minute for Arsenal. Trossard, with his quirkiness, made a beautiful pass into the box to help Havertz head the ball into goalkeeper Donnarumma's net.
It has been a dream start for Arsenal. And this is also Arsenal's 450th goal under Arteta in 241 matches in nearly 5 years. After conceding the goal, PSG had a strong period of time but could not penetrate The Gunners' defense.
In the 35th minute, the second goal came for Arsenal when Saka's free kick went through a series of players and defeated Donnarumma.
Arsenal deserved this victory, as both goals came in the attacking phase. That is probably inevitable, because at the moment they are a much more advanced team than PSG.
Summer signing Mikel Merino has also been given a chance to make his Arsenal debut. The Spanish midfielder joined the Emirates from Real Sociedad but was out for nearly two months due to injury. And Merino was brought on in the second half of the match against PSG to replace Thomas Partey.
Merino's appearance has given the Arsenal squad more depth, thereby aiming for a successful Champions League campaign.
