PSG and Bayern in 'different world' to Premier League teams - Arteta

The Gunners' David Raya (4,140), Martin Zubimendi (4,096), Declan Rice (4,002) and William Saliba (3,774) were all in the top five, in terms of minutes played this season, out of the four starting line-ups. While Rice, for example, has played 359 more minutes this season than England team-mate Harry Kane - almost equal to four whole matches. "The quality of the two teams [PSG and Bayern], and especially the individual quality of players, I have never seen something like this," added Arteta. "But when I look at the amount of minutes and the freshness of those players, I'm not surprised. "How many players were available [for PSG and Bayern]? All of them, at their very best. That's the most important thing." There is no doubt that PSG and Bayern's attacking players lived up to their billing in Tuesday night's thrilling encounter. Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored twice for defending champions PSG, who also had Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele on the scoresheet. Bayern countered with goals from leading scorer Kane and top attacking duo Michael Olise and Luis Diaz, all three of whom signed from Premier League clubs. In contrast, Arsenal were missing injured German forward Kai Havertz and lost key creative midfielder Martin Odegaard midway through the second half of their match in Madrid with injury.

England winger Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, started on the bench after spending a month out with an Achilles injury - he also missed eight games earlier in the season with hip and hamstring problems. There have been concerns raised in the past managers about how fixtures are scheduled around key European fixtures. Ligue 1 recently agreed a PSG request to postpone a match against Lens that was scheduled between the two legs of their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool . When asked about potential help from the Premier League schedulers, Arteta said: "If they can do that, that would be great." Arsenal 's title rivals, Manchester City , recently held discussions with the Premier League over their fixture scheduling after matches had to be postponed due to their participation in both domestic cup finals. Those two matches - at home to Crystal Palace (13 May) and away to Bournemouth (19 May) - have since been rearranged. As a result, City will now play three games in seven days, either side of their FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday, 16 May.