Mohamed Salah has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain are Europe’s best team ahead of their huge Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Paris knowing they need a win to reach their first Champions League final in 19 years, after last week’s 1-0 loss at the Emirates.
PSG have impressed this season, already beating Liverpool and Aston Villa in the Champions League knockout stages, while they wrapped up the Ligue 1 title with six games to play.
A remarkable Alisson display and a late Harvey Elliot finish had given the Premier League champions a 1-0 lead going into the second leg of their round of 16 tie, but Luis Enrique’s side recovered to dump Liverpool out of Europe with a dramatic penalty shoot-out win at Anfield.
And Salah was full of praise for the French side, who are looking to win their first ever Champions League.
Speaking ahead of their semi-final showdown, the Egyptian striker told L’Equipe they are the ‘best team in Europe.
Mo Salah has said that Paris Saint-Germain are the best side in Europe ahead of their semi-final
Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League round of 16 on penalties by PSG
Alisson made a string of impressive saves to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead going into the second leg
‘I have to be very honest, PSG were playing a very good game in the first leg. We were so lucky that Alisson had his best game in the club’s history probably. They were so unlucky.
‘Then they came to Anfield. We were so unlucky because we hit the post two to three times.
‘That game was honestly 50/50. Who deserved it more? No one could say. We played a very good second half. They played a very good first leg.
‘Nobody here would say they deserved it 100 per cent.’
Salah, who has scored 33 goals and provided 23 assists in just 49 matches in all competitions this season, also revealed he told PSG’s players to ‘go and win’ the Champions League.
‘It was their day and I shook their hands and said to their players after “congratulations, go and win” and that’s it.
‘We faced the best team in Europe in that tie,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Declan Rice has warned PSG that Arsenal do not fear them and urged his team-mates to create a ‘magic moment’.
In the first leg, Mikel Merino had a goal disallowed for offside but the Parisians struck the crossbar late on in a match they dominated.
PSG, who are aiming for their first ever Champions League trophy, won 1-0 at the Emirates
It leaves the north London club with a tall task tonight, yet one they believe is well within their grasp after a string of impressive away performances in Europe.
Arsenal hammered PSV Eindhoven 7-1 at the Philips Stadion in the last 16 stage, before dethroning 15-time European champions Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the quarter-finals.
Rice said: ‘I think our second group game of the Champions League, we beat them [PSG] 2-0. It was the same team other than [Ousmane] Dembele and [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia.
‘Everyone else started and we beat them, so there’s no fear. Like I said, I think the goal inside three minutes probably shocked us a little bit, shocked the atmosphere a little bit.
‘But once we found a foothold in the game again, we started creating chances. We fully believed that we could beat them.
‘Obviously it wasn’t meant to be, but we’ve seen enough and we know enough as a team that tomorrow night we can do something really, really good and we definitely believe that we belong at this level.
‘We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we’re ready to play at this level.’
