Gary Neville says the “next step” for Premier League champions Arsenal is to lift the Champions League but they are underdogs against a “special” Paris Saint-Germain side.
Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for the title last week after Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City lost to Bournemouth in the final week of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s side now have the chance to join only Manchester United and Manchester City in winning the Premier League and Champions League in the same season, but Neville has warned how difficult it will be against Paris Saint-Germain as they bid for back-to-back titles.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to grow beyond what you can imagine as an Arsenal fan because they’ve never won a trophy before and this is the next step after winning the league,” he said.
“I’m really happy with what they achieved this week. They should celebrate that, and they did. But now they’re heading into the Champions League final. If they can win it next weekend, they’re going to have to beat the best. They’re going to have to beat Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain team and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team. That’s the way to do that.”
“If you want to win your first Premier League title in 22 years, you go and beat the best player of all time. If you want to win the Champions League, you go and beat the current holders and one of the greatest managers that Europe has seen in the last 10, 15 years.
“It will be tough for them. PSG are on a different level. They have one of those managers who is just a serial winner and there is a terribleness in them that they will do anything to win.
“Luis Enrique is probably the greatest manager in the world right now, along with Pep Guardiola. This is his moment. Arsenal will go head-to-head. If you can win back-to-back Champions Leagues, you’re on a different planet. And that’s what he wants. He wants to break all records.
“It will be very difficult for Arsenal because they are against a team that is special and knows what to do.
But they know how to defend. They have some winners themselves. Both teams are physically fantastic. I’m really looking forward to it.
“I think PSG are the best team in Europe at the moment. Arsenal are going in as underdogs and they have to somehow get over the line and fight to win.”
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The best moments from Arsenal’s celebrations as they lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years
Neville believes Arsenal’s win before their last game at Crystal Palace, where they are heavily on rotation, is ideal preparation for Saturday’s final.
He said: “Do you know what was so good for Arsenal? They won the title four or five days early to give them more time to prepare for this game.
“It’s important for them to have that extra four or five days. Now they can give it a week for free and do five or six days of really good quality accumulation.
“They are not in recovery mode. These are the players who will start against PSG.”
