PSV's Perisic knocks Arsenal ahead of first leg
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As talented a team as Arsenal might be, there's something missing that keeps them from winning trophies.
So says PSV winger Ivan Perisic ahead of the two teams' first-leg clash in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven.
“It’s going to be tough, they are a really good team, a young team," the veteran Croatia winger said. "Good coach, but in the last years they are always missing something to step up to win something. We have to be ready and I know we are going to have a good chance to beat them. I really believe in my team. We have trained well and tactically we have to be on the top level to show something good against them.”
Perisic, 36, spent 18 months at Tottenham Hotspur from 2022 to 2023 and saw the Gunners firsthand.
Arsenal's last major trophy came with the 2020 FA Cup. Mikel Arteta's side has never won the Champions League and last won a Premier League title in 2004. Arsenal currently sits second in the table, but trail leaders Liverpool by 13 points with only 11 games remaining.
But Perisic acknowledges that his own team's failings are greater than his opponent's. Winless in four matches, PSV has fallen eight points behind Ajax in the Eredivisie.
“We have to do much, much better in the league than we have done in the last two months,” Perisic, who joined the team in the summer from Hadjuk Split, said.
In 24 appearances across all competitions, Perisic has seven goals this season.
Winners of the UEFA Cup in 1978 and the European Cup in 1988, PSV is looking to reach the Champions League quarters for the first time since 2007. To reach the last eight that season, PSV dispatched Arsenal, 2-1 on aggregate, in the Round of 16.
The return leg of the tie is set for the Emirates on Mar. 12.