Mathieu Debuchy says the unpredictable nature of the FA Cup makes it similar to the French equivalent.
Arsenal have faced Championship opposition in each of their last two cup semi-finals, needing extra-time to progress on both occasions.
Lower-league clubs have excelled in the Coupe de France too. Third-tier Quevilly reached the final three years ago and Guingamp won the trophy while still a Ligue 2 side in 2009.
"The FA Cup is pretty much the same - sometimes clubs from the lower divisions have a good FA Cup campaign. Because of this, I think they are similar competitions"
“The [competitions] have a lot of things in common,” Debuchy told Arsenal Player. “Every game is extremely difficult in the cup.
“In France, often some small teams manage to go very far in the competition, even reach the final. We've seen it recently.
“The FA Cup is pretty much the same - sometimes clubs from the lower divisions have a good FA Cup campaign. Because of this, I think they are similar competitions. It is extremely difficult to win a cup tie.”
Debuchy made his comeback from a dislocated shoulder at Wembley in last month’s semi-final against Reading.
“It was a very important match for the club and for the players as well,” he said. “We really wanted to reach the final, to have the opportunity to win the cup again.
“Personally, I was coming back from injury and to play 120 minutes was extremely hard, especially in extra time.
“I struggled a bit but the most important thing was to reach the final for the second year in a row. We want to keep the trophy.”
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