Daniel Riolo, a journalist with RMC Sport, spoke to the sports media after the 0-1 victory over Arsenal (video highlights Arsenal/PSG) on Tuesday at Emirates Stadium in the first leg of the Champions League 2024-2025 semi-finals (return on May 7). He stressed that Paris could have achieved an even better result.
Riolo “it’s very impressive at this level of the competition, even more so away from home.”
“It was a great performance from PSG from start to finish. Against Aston Villa, there were long moments when it was complicated. It’s normal that you don’t totally crush your opponent, but there was control from start to finish and that’s very impressive at this level of the competition, all the more so away from home.”
Riolo “I expected something a little stronger.”
“I almost have regrets. At some point, we had the chance to kill off the semi-final tonight. Did Arsenal – and their leaders like Saka and Odegaard – display this level because PSG were good? Or because these players aren’t as strong as people think? I didn’t expect Arsenal to perform at this level. I was expecting something a little stronger.”
It’s rare to see Riolo so positive about PSG, and that’s good. No tackling, no coach doing anything. The latter, who almost endangered Paris with his “tests” during the autumn.
We know that the journalist has already claimed that the Parisians are now strong because Luis Enrique has stopped his “madness”. When in fact he has built this collective, with a lot of versatility and mobility.
PSG is now impressive. There was nothing easy about the Arsenal game, of course. There were more difficult moments. But the Parisian team was never totally outplayed. And although the Gunners were good, they put up a good fight. Nevertheless, qualification is far from a foregone conclusion. We’ll need another great performance in the return leg.
