Mikel Arteta said Arsenal and other Premier League teams are competing in a "different world" to Champions League rivals Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich. The Arsenal manager spoke following a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final tie on April 28, 2026, according to Arsenal.com.
Arteta described a recent 5-4 semi-final match between PSG and Bayern as the best game he had ever witnessed regarding individual quality. He attributed the high level of performance to the "freshness" of the players in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, per OneFootball.
Comparing the domestic demands, Arteta stated the difference in league competition was "night and day" due to the volume of minutes played by English-based squads. He noted that such moments of quality require players to be very fresh, which is difficult to achieve in the Premier League. The Spaniard argued it is unfair to compare the teams without considering the context of their respective league schedules, according to Hayters TV.
