Former French Star Eager to See Arsenal’s William Saliba Handle This Electric PSG Attacker | OneFootball

Arsenal secured a spot in the UEFA Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie, completing a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory to set up a clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

Bukayo Saka had a chance to give Arsenal the early lead but missed a first-half penalty, briefly giving Real Madrid hope of mounting a comeback from their three-goal deficit. That hope quickly faded.

Saka redeemed himself in the 65th minute, finishing off a smooth move to open the scoring. Vinicius Jr. responded just two minutes later, pulling one back for Real Madrid.

But Arsenal stayed in control, and Gabriel Martinelli put the tie beyond doubt with a stoppage-time goal to wrap up a dominant performance across both legs.

William Saliba will need to help keep PSG’s attack under control

BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty Images

Now that it’s set that Arsenal and PSG will meet again after facing each other in the league phase, one former player is eager to see how Willian Saliba defends one particular Parisian attacker.

“[Saliba has] improved so much,” Ludovic Giuly told Le Parisien (h/t Le10Sport). “Honestly, he’s the leader at the back, and in no time, he’ll be the leader of France’s defense too. It’s going to be great to see him go up against Ousmane Dembele in the semifinal…

“[Arsenal-PSG tie is] going to be huge. It’ll be even more exciting to watch than Barcelona vs. Inter Milan. Arsenal are a bit like Paris — both have great collective control. I think Arsenal defend a bit better than Paris, while the Parisians have more attacking talent.”