Arsenal vs PSG: How 'unbelievable' Luis Enrique influenced Mikel Arteta's rebuild | OneFootball

Fellow Spaniard has had a profound impact on his Gunners counterpart, both as a player and manager

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When Arsenal hosted Paris Saint-Germain earlier this season, Mikel Arteta was quick to seek out Luis Enrique after the pair had conducted their media duties following the full-time whistle.

The pair know each other from their playing days at Barcelona and have stayed in touch ever since.

Arteta was just starting his career when he was at Barca with Enrique, who was a first-team regular at the time, but that period had an impact on him.

Before Arsenal kicked off against PSG in October, a game the Gunners won 2-0, the pair shared a big hug on the touchline, with Arteta grinning from ear to ear.

“I was very young still, I was training with the first team in pre-season and a few times during the year.

Revenge or repeat? Arteta has already got the better of Enrique once in the Champions League this season ahead of semi-final showdown

AFP via Getty Images

“He was extremely supportive with the young players, he was one of the main characters by far. He was one of the captains. I have really good memories of him.”

Arteta and Enrique will be reunited again on Tuesday, but this time the stakes will be much higher as they meet in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final.

PSG have come a long way since their 2-0 defeat at the Emirates in October during the league phase of the competition - and Arteta will not be surprised by that. The Spaniard’s admiration for Enrique as a player has continued and grown during his time as a manager.

Arteta views Enrique as one of the best coaches in the world, especially because of the famous Barcelona team that he guided to the treble a decade ago.

Arsenal set up in the same 4-3-3 formation that Enrique uses and Arteta admires the way his sides dominate possession. There is also an appreciation of how clear Enrique is in his identity and that has not changed, no matter who he has been coaching.

“What I love about him is wherever he’s been, as a player or a manager, his fingerprints are all over the place,” said Arteta.

“You can sense it’s his team with the way his players behave, the way they want to attack and dominate games.

“The spirit, the energy they have, he has this unbelievable power with all the clubs he’s been at, with the Spain national team.”

Style of play is one thing, but Arteta’s admiration for Enrique is far deeper than that and extends to him as a person.

Enrique is renowned for taking no prisoners and that much was clear earlier this season, with Ousmane Dembele not part of the squad that faced Arsenal in October after being dropped for disciplinary reasons.

Arteta has been similarly strict during his time at Arsenal, most famously with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

“I admire his (Enrique’s) honesty,” said Arteta. “He’s straightforward – he will look in your eyes and tell you what he thinks. In the end, players appreciate that.

“They might like it more or less, depending how it happens, but I have had two or three players here who were with him in the national team, and they always said the same thing. They all enjoy playing under him.

I’m a huge admirer of him. An unbelievable personality, huge character, huge energy

Mikel Arteta on Luis Enrique

“I’m a huge admirer of him. An unbelievable personality, huge character, huge energy, always very supportive with young players. And then his approach to life, to his profession – it’s something to really look at and I learnt a lot of things from him.

“For me he’s one of the best coaches in the world and someone who helped me a huge amount. I have the utmost respect both for how he is as a person and his way of working.”

The respect goes both ways and Enrique has been equally glowing when speaking about Arteta.

Before the sides met in October, he described Arteta as “one of the best coaches on the market at the moment” and praised him for the way he has turned Arsenal around.

Enrique went as far as to say that Arsenal are now the best team in Europe without the ball, which is a statement that has rung true given the Gunners’ defensive record in the Champions League this season.

“He is a great coach and a great person,” Enrique added.

Sadly for Arteta and Enrique, though, only one of them can reach the Champions League final next month.