Arsenal star Declan Rice has admitted that the Champions League has become more challenging in the new format because they will be facing the bigger clubs of Europe even before the knockout rounds.
The Gunners needed late drama at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to beat Leicester City 4-2 in the Premier League and are sitting third in the league table.
However, their focus is set to turn towards European football this week as they prepare to return to Champions League action on Tuesday night.
Arsenal only managed a 0-0 draw at Atalanta in their opening Champions League game of the season and are now set to host French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates.
UEFA scrapped the groups stage of their club competitions this season and adopted a 36-team league format with the opponents of the clubs getting decided randomly by a computer in the ‘Swiss format’.
Declan Rice admits that the new Champions League format is more challenging for Arsenal
The Arsenal midfielder admitted that the format is new and tougher compared to the group stages when the bigger clubs often faced smaller teams with very little jeopardy of not qualifying for the knockout rounds.
However, the new format is pitting top teams against other bigger sides and Rice conceded that Arsenal will be playing tougher games early rather than wait for the quarter-finals or the semi-finals.
He admitted that PSG will be a big game for the Gunners as they need points on board after only managing a draw at Atalanta and there is real excitement about the enormity of the fixture on Tuesday night.
“It is a different format now, but we are coming up against probably tougher teams than you normally would in a group stage format. We have got tougher teams now”, Rice was quoted as saying by the Evening Standard.
“We have got an exciting night here, which is our second game. Usually, you would find these games in the quarter-finals or semi-finals, so for it to be our second game is massive.
