Former England manager Fabio Capello makes Arsenal vs PSG prediction

Former England manager Fabio Capello has backed Arsenal to come through their test against Paris Saint-Germain to reach this season’s Champions League final.

Arsenal were handed a daunting quarter-final draw against 15-time winners Real Madrid, but blew the holders away with a comprehensive 5-1 victory across the two legs to book their place in the last four.

Declan Rice sent Mikel Arteta’s side on their way with a pair of breathtaking free-kicks in a 3-0 defeat of Madrid in north London, in which Mikel Merino also scored, before Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli netted in 2-1 win at the Bernabeu last week.

The last time the club reached the Champions League semi-finals was 16 years ago, when Arsene Wenger’s men were denied a shot at the title by Manchester United.

The Gunners have never won Europe’s premier competition, but came mightily close in 2006, only for Barcelona to come from behind to beat them in a memorable final in Paris.

Arsenal fans will return to the French capital for the second of their two encounters with Luis Enrique’s PSG, who survived a scare against Aston Villa to secure their progression.

Capello argued that the two teams were relatively evenly matched while previewing the eagerly anticipated semi-final at the Laureus World Sports Awards.

But the ex-England, Real Madrid and AC Milan boss believes Arsenal possess ‘something extra’ and may just edge it to reach this year’s showpiece in Munich.

‘Arsenal have it all: quality, balance on the pitch and good physical condition, like PSG at the moment,’ Capello said.

‘From that point of view, both teams are equal.

‘But I think Arsenal have something extra right now: quality and physical strength.’

Capello added: ‘Both teams have a very good team spirit, but Arsenal have a lot of personality.

‘They play together, they work together. The pace of their matches is very high.

‘It will be a very good match, but if I had to bet, I think Arsenal will be the better team.’

Arsenal signalled their intent to Champions League’s remaining teams with their dismantling of Madrid – and Capello has been blown away by Arteta’s side.

‘I’ve never seen an English team play so well, aside from City, who were different,’ he continued.

‘If we’re talking about the classic English style, not the Pep Guardiola style, I think Arsenal play really, really well, with technical qualities and physical strength.’

Arsenal will face either Barcelona or Inter Milan should they get the better of PSG over the two legs.

Five-time winners Barca booked their spot in the final four with victory over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals, while Inter saw off Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to advance through.

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