Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud thinks that Paris Saint-Germain will prove very tough opposition in the Champions League despite the fact the French champions lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic over the summer.
PSG were drawn in Arsenal's group in the competition on Thursday and both teams must also take on Basel of Switzerland and Bulgarian side Ludogorets home and away.
Giroud, 29, feels that the Gunners' two matches against top seeds PSG could decide who finishes top of Group A and he has warned that the French champions will be dangerous even without their former captain.
Ibrahimovic left for Manchester United this summer after becoming PSG's all-time record goal scorer but the Ligue 1 winners have since bolstered their squad by signing Jese Rodriguez, Hatem Ben Arfa, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Thomas Meunier.
"They have a lot of very big players including some, like [Angel] Di Maria, who have already won the Champions League," Giroud told Le Parisien.
"They have a lot of talent and a lot of experience, just like we do, and it should make for two super matches.
"For that matter, travelling to the Parc des Princes for the first match in the competition on Sept. 13 will make us get to the heart of things straightaway, which is a good thing. I can't wait to meet PSG."
Giroud's goals helped Montpellier pip PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2012 and the capital club's Qatari investors responded by bringing in Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti that summer.
Giroud made his move to Arsenal the same year and the France international has watched from afar since then as PSG dominated domestic competition but failed to get past the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Laurent Blanc was replaced by ex-Sevilla boss Unai Emery this summer and Giroud has predicted that PSG will be an even better team this season.
"It's a new chapter in the history of the club that's opening," he said.
"The style of play without Zlatan Ibrahimovic will obviously be different because the ball went through him a lot and the playing philosophy of Unai Emery is different to Laurent Blanc's anyway.
"But that's not to say that PSG aren't as strong as last year -- on the contrary. They were intelligent in the way they've recruited players who perfectly suit the style that Emery wants to put in place."