'The recipe for beating them' - Nice boss tells Arsenal how he ended PSG's unbeaten run

OGC Nice boss Franck Haise has provided some useful insight into how his team beat Paris Saint-Germain on Friday. Arsenal go up against PSG in their Champions League semi-final, with the first leg taking place at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

PSG have been in electric form this season, and until Friday night, they were unbeaten in Ligue 1, already champions and chasing an invincible seasons down the stretch. But Luis Enrique saw his men lose their unbeaten run that stretched 30 games when they lost 3-1 to OGC Nice at home, at Parc des Princes.

That will give Arsenal some useful homework, given Nice have laid on a template to beating PSG, something no other team has done in Ligue 1 this season, giving Arteta and his staff little to go on.

Speaking after the game, Nice boss Haise told L’Equipe: “When you beat that PSG, at home, in that season, it's an achievement. Paris had more shots, more chances and more control, like every weekend. Everything had to be aligned for an achievement: offensive efficiency - which hadn't always been the case in recent weeks -, defending as well as possible, occasionally loosening the grip and having a goalkeeper who made some exceptional saves. When everything aligns, it becomes an achievement.”

Asked for a blueprint, the Nice boss added: “The recipe for beating them? OGC Nice also came to win here when I wasn't the coach. I don't have the recipe. We tried to densify the heart of the game, to occasionally have a bit of a man advantage when we had the ball. With four matches remaining, I don't know who would have bet on us. This great victory proves that this group is capable of great things, even if it means defending a lot and having little possession. The hardest part is to replicate that.

“I think our deserved equalizer in Strasbourg (2-2, April 12) in the final minutes determined a lot of things. We needed a point that counted. We're not above, we don't have an easy match, but we hope that something happened and that it will remain the case until the last minute of the last match."

Arteta on PSG game

Arsenal have some extra rest ahead of the PSG clash, not in action this weekend, last in action against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night when they drew 2-2 at home.

Speaking after that game, Arteta was asked whether the PSG game was a distraction for his players, given the Champions League is an obvious priority for his side. “Hopefully not,” he responded. “But we discussed that before Ipswich, and it wasn't there. Today we still had six days to prepare that match, and I don't want to use that. Obviously, we have missed a lot of players, a lot of players that haven't trained at all, they weren't able to do it today so we were very short. Credit to Palace, they are very well organised, they are a really good side, they made it difficult for us and everyone else, but today we weren’t at our best.”

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