ROOMING with Ronaldinho is not something you forget in a hurry.
In January 2001, an 18-year-old Mikel Arteta arrived at Paris Saint-Germain alone and “terrified” after being shipped out on an 18-month loan from Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.
In his first taste of men’s senior football, he was guided on the pitch by friend and mentor Mauricio Pochettino, a man who first inspired Arteta to go into management.
And by the summer of 2001, the now-Arsenal boss had a new roommate — a 21-year-old Brazilian signing called Ronaldinho, someone who opened Arteta’s eyes to the beautiful game.
More than two decades on, Arteta faces the Parisian giants for the first time as a manager on Tuesday, and cannot help but smile as he recalls what it was like sharing a room with a footballing legend known for his tricks and flair on the pitch . . . and mad partying lifestyle off it.
Asked what sort of roomie Ronaldinho was, Arteta grinned: “With me, he was always perfect.
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“We were room-mates for a year. He was great. So much energy, so much fun, everything was good. Never a problem. Great times.
“I did not see him as a superstar at the time, obviously. But he was a huge talent.
“He was coming from Brazil. He didn’t have the work permit so he had to wait for a couple of months.”
A young Arteta was desperate to stay in Paris beyond his loan spell, only to be recalled by Barcelona and sold to Scottish giants Rangers in 2002 before arriving in England — via Real Sociedad — with Everton two-and-a-half years later.
Ronaldinho’s stay at the Parc des Princes was also short but sweet, leaving for Barca in 2003 where he won the Ballon d’Or, two LaLiga titles and the Champions League across five years.
Arteta continued: “He’s the only player I have seen in history that could transform, by himself, two clubs. He did it in Paris, he transformed them. He went to Barcelona in one of the worst moments and transformed them.
Former Arsenal star Fabian Caballero passes away aged 46
“He had an aura, an energy, a smile on his face . . . it was impossible to be next to him and be in a bad mood.
“And in training, I never saw a talent like this. In every drill, it was like: ‘How is this possible?’.
“It was unbelievable to play with him. I had to do all the defending because I had Ronaldinho and Jay-Jay Okocha in front of me. Imagine!
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“It was super, almost unreal. It was a dream for me.
“I was so blessed and I had so much energy at that time. I couldn’t waste that opportunity — I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Arteta also has a strong friendship with current PSG boss — former Barca player and Treble-winning manager Luis Enrique, 54 — who he shares much in common with.
But Arteta, now 42, admits he owes a lot to his days in Paris for making him the man and manager he is today after being “protected like a son” in the “perfect environment”.
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A month after joining as an unknown teenager, he made his Champions League debut at the San Siro against AC Milan in a 1-1 draw.
Arteta said: “I was in the tunnel, I was looking . . . it was [ex-Milan owner Silvio] Berlusconi, [Paolo] Maldini, [Andriy] Shevchenko.
“I was looking, they were all like this [holds his hand up high]. I was like: ‘Really?’ I was thrown to the lions in Rome.
“But it turned out to be a really good match, which I really enjoyed. It was an unbelievable night.”
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Arteta is hoping for another of those nights at the Emirates, having drawn their first Champions League outing 0-0 at Atalanta last month.
Last season, Arsenal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich after a 1-0 second-leg defeat at the Allianz Arena on April 17.
Three days earlier, their title dreams had been damaged by a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa.
Ahead of another gruelling title race and European run, Arteta said: “Last year we almost went all the way. We came up short, so that is something we have to do better, to prove. That’s the next step we have to make as a team.”
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Gunners defenders Ben White (groin) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) face late fitness tests.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has called up Northampton lock Alex Coles and Bath back-row Ted Hill to his squad for the opening Autumn Nations Series match with New Zealand on Saturday.
Hill is rewarded after his player of the match display after Bath’s Premiership win over Sale, while Coles continues to impress for Saints.
Sale fly-half George Ford is also promoted to the regular squad, having been previously named as going through ‘rehabilitation’ after a quad injury sustained in early October.
Leicester forward Ollie Chessum drops out of the squad as he awaits assessment on a knee injury picked up against Saracens, while Charlie Ewels is also out as he follows return to play protocols following Bath’s win at The Rec.
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Sale wing Tom Roebuck is also dropped from the 36-player squad that will prepare to play the All Blacks.
The match is the first of four fixtures for England who also play Australia, South Africa and Japan at Allianz Stadium in November.
A sight many people thought they would never see happened in the UFC 308 main event when Max Holloway was knocked out for the first time in MMA against Ilia Topuria.
Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) failed to recapture the featherweight title from Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in Saturday’s headliner at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, when he was stopped by third-round knockout.
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After the fight, Holloway displayed pure class and addressed the media about his fighting future. He hinted that a full-time move to lightweight could be on the horizon, and he is still officially in ownership of the BMF belt.
What is the correct next move for Holloway? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on his future after UFC 308.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
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Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Roy Keane reckons Arne Slot’s calmness away from the pitch will stand Liverpool in good stead.
He told Sky: “You have to defend properly and you know with people like Salah, you’ll score goals. There’s definitely a calmness to Liverpool and that comes from the manager, who speaks very well.
“Even 2-1 down today they didn’t panic. There’s a lot of self belief which comes from winning football matches. We can argue all day about if they’ve been tested yet, but they’ve turned up.
“Generally speaking they look a strong, efficient team. They keep turning up and that gives you a chance of winning football matches.”
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More from Slot shortly.
Arsenal ratings
SunSport’s Jordan Davies was at the Emirates and has run the rule over the home side.
Here’s a snippet of his ratings, and you can read what he’s said on every Gunners player
Thomas Partey – 8
Bukayo Saka – 9
Leandro Trossard – ??
Young star
Bukayo Saka’s goal today against Liverpool means he’s the youngest player in Arsenal’s history to hit 50 Premier League goals.
He edges out idol Thierry Henry, who scored his 50th goal against – you guessed it, Liverpool!
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Henry was 24 years and 128 days when hitting that milestone.
Saka, currently 23 years and 52 days old, now has another personal record to his name.
Kon the Man
Ibrahima Konaté was Liverpool’s ‘best player by a mile’.
That’s the view of Reds legend Jamie Carragher, who felt the defender helped Trent Alexander-Arnold in a way Virgil van Dijk failed to do for Andy Robertson in the opener.
He told Sky: “He was amazing, Konate was fantastic. Honestly he was Liverpool’s best player by a mile.
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“How he helped cover that side, coming across. Konate’s natural reaction is to get across.
“He’s actually picked and was bought because he’s playing alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold (who moves into midfield) and finds himself as a centre back and right back in a game.”
Saka reacts
Bukayo Saka believes Arsenal players let themselves down in the second half to throw away two points.
He told Sky Sports: “We’re a bit disappointed. Credit to Liverpool, they’re a good team.
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“But we just feel like we didn’t show our best selves for the full 90 minutes.
“I think first half we showed our qualities, we dominated and they scored from a set piece but didn’t really have any other shots.
“Second half we sat back a bit and we weren’t at our best. Liverpool had more momentum and won more duels than us.
“Losing Gabriel, he’s a big player for us. That’s not an excuse, we have to adapt and do our best whoever is on the pitch.”
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How we stand now
A point apiece leaves Manchester City on top following their win yesterday.
Liverpool now a point behind and Arsenal a further FOUR behind.
Giving City a five-point lead after nine games, a long way back already for the Gunners.
ABU DHABI – After what is likely to go down as one of the most highlight reel-worthy knockouts in UFC history, Shara Magomedov brought part of his focus back to a longtime pursuit.
Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten Saturday when he took out Armen Petrosyan (9-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with a second-round TKO to open the UFC 308 main card at Etihad Arena. The finish was far from an ordinary one, though.
Magomedov threw a spinning backfist, and as soon as the first one was about to land, he pivoted and threw another with the opposite arm. It landed clean, and Petrosyan was done, with the only thing left being his unfortunate immortalization on the wrong end of the Shara “Bullet” highlight.
“I used to practice this technique since my career in muay Thai,” Magomedov said at his post-fight news conference. “In MMA, I was unable to throw it (until now) because people are going to wrestle me. But this time, I fought a high-level striker and it became a chess match – and I was able to surprise him in this chess match.”
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Not surprisingly, Magomedov picked up a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the stunning finish, which opened the pay-per-view portion of the card.
But Magomedov didn’t immediately shoot for the moon, despite an opportune time to play the “I want a title shot” game. Ne wants a fight with former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, whom he said he’s been after since they were in the kickboxing world at the same time.
“I used to chase Israel when he fought kickboxing in China. I was fighting kickboxing in China too,” Magomedov said. “Now that he switched to MMA, and now that I’m here, I’m ready to capture (what he’s had). I’m ready to fight him … it doesn’t matter where. I beat his friend and sparring partner, Blood Diamond, in China and I was ready to fight him. Israel is very popular in China. Then he switched to MMA and signed to the UFC – and now I’m here, too.”
Adesanya is mired in the first slump of his career. He lost the middleweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 281, but won it back at UFC 287. Then he lost it to Sean Strickland 13 months ago. He was submitted by new champ Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August for his second straight defeat.
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Magomedov said it doesn’t matter as much when he fights Adesanya, so lnog as it happens.
“I’m in no rush. I’m not running in front of the train. The only way for Israel Adesanya to avoid the fight with me is to retire,” Magomedov said. “Of course I would like to fight Israel to prove that I’m the best striker in the division. But also, I would like to fight Marvin Vettori to prove that my wrestling is good. Those two names really excite me. Besides them, guys like Kevin Holland, Michel Pereira.
“Our middleweight division is full of predators and sharks, but I’m the only pirate.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
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