On Wednesday, in the second leg of their Champions League 2024-2025 semi-final (0-1 win in the first leg), Paris Saint-Germain take on Arsenal at the Parc des Princes (kick-off 9pm, CET). On the eve of the match, Paris coach Luis Enrique answered a number of questions at a press conference.
Luis Enrique “We have to play with the objective of winning the match.”
Are you going to use last year’s frustrating elimination as an example?
No. I’m not using anything special. It’s about living a special date, as we’ve done up to now. That has to be the state of mind. We’re here because we’ve earned it. We have to play with the aim of winning the match, as we did in the first leg.
How do you feel about Mikel Arteta’s return to the Parc?
I was lucky enough to get to know Mikel as a player; we were at Barça together. I remember his strong character. He was a great player, and now he’s a great coach. You can see it in Arsenal’s very positive development. I wish him all the best, but not tomorrow (smile). The match will be complex, like the first leg.
Luis Enrique: “We want to grow even more.
Do you feel you’ve built a team that’s more like you? Do you feel more confident than you did against Dortmund?
We talked about that even before the first leg. It’s normal in the building process that there are still things to grasp and analyze in the first year. The second year is all about growth, with more confidence in our resources. And then we want to grow again. We want to reach milestones and improve our results.
Luis Enrique: “We’ll have personality with and without the ball.
Is your midfield your main success?
Honestly, I don’t think any one line is superior to the others. That’s the great thing about this team. Even when there are absentees, we always have a competitive team. We don’t calculate. We always want to repeat the same match mechanism, home and away. It’s not easy, you need a very clear mentality and principles. We have the advantage of a win in the first leg, but we’re not calculating.
It’ll be a tough match, of course. But we’re going to try to repeat what we do every day. We’ll be aggressive, we’ll have personality with and without the ball. I’m lucky to have players of the quality I have.
Can Dembélé start tomorrow?
He’s been training for 2 days and he’s at my disposal.
Luis Enrique “We always want to find our unbalanced players in space.”
A change in the general public’s attitude towards PSG, with increasing support. This is thanks to your team spirit and personality, and the end of the bling-bling image. Does that make you happy?
I take my bike to come to the Campus because it’s only 9 kilometers away, so I don’t have much to show for it (smile). Above all, the team has received a lot of praise for the way it plays. That was our aim from day one, to make the team attractive.
Soccer is also a spectacle. I think we’ve achieved that. If there’s praise, that’s the objective. It’s wonderful that it’s also coming from outside our supporters.
Dembélé’s understanding of the game isn’t talked about enough?
His footballing experience is very clear and he has benefited from his past. Including his time at FC Barcelona, where he spent several years with great players and a style of play similar to ours. We talk about a lot of things. We always want to find our unbalancing players in the spaces left by our opponents.
Do you have a favourite or a preference for the final between Inter Milan and Barça?
I’m already sweating just thinking about this semi-final (smile). To tell the truth, what I really want is for PSG to be in the final. Of course, I’m very attached to Barça and they’ll never go away.
Luis Enrique “We’re going to have to suffer at times.”
What will be the key against Arsenal?
That’s a very good question, I don’t know (smiles). There are a lot of potential keys. But I think it’s the way we play, the confidence our fans give us, the effort we put in and our emotional intelligence.
We’re going to have to suffer at times, against an opponent who’s not a favorable score. We need to get as close as possible to the first leg if we are to be successful and keep our ideas alive.
You said that the magic came all by itself at Barça. Is it a bit the same feeling here? Is the coach’s impact exaggerated?
All coaches have an impact, depending on what they want to convey. I always say that my players had a great level and I always want to make individual and collective improvements. It doesn’t matter if the player is famous, I want to give the best version of the player and the team.
Luis Enrique: “We’ll do everything we can to be competitive.
Will managing transitions be important? Arsenal need to discover themselves?
The result will condition the match, and the return leg doesn’t usually resemble the first. In soccer, the result conditions the teams. But we don’t want to calculate, we want to use our strengths. If the match doesn’t go our way, we’ll do everything we can to be competitive. But it’ll be different from the first leg.
How do you operate in the run-up to the match? Do you have to take the pressure off?
It’s all relatively straightforward, simpler than you might think. There’s the usual management. We’ve talked about the things we can do offensively and defensively, with the staff. To see where we can improve. Then we work with the players.
We’re here thanks to all the hard work we’ve put in all season. There’s nothing special. What we need to do now is rest and enjoy our time with the family. Then we’ll have to enjoy ourselves during the match and, if possible, afterwards.
Luis Enrique “I’ve been very confident about the team from the start.”
It’ll be your birthday on Thursday, would it be a great present to be in the final?
Thanks for thinking about it, but I have to say I’m not thinking about it at the moment. But it was the same thing last year and it wasn’t a very good day. But I have a second chance to have a really nice celebration. I’ll accept the situation. I’ll try to enjoy the match with my players and pass on my mentality.
A key moment this season? Against Manchester City perhaps?
No, I don’t think so. The one against City was very special, we had problems and we managed to solve them. But I’ve been very confident about the team right from the start. Last year was my first season and I could already feel that confidence.
Luis Enrique “I’m very happy with his performance, with or without the ball.”
Kvaratskhelia, what were your expectations and what did you see?
I think that when we wanted to recruit him, we couldn’t do it. We know him very well. He’s young, with a lot of experience. That’s rare for a striker. It’s difficult to change clubs and countries, you have to adapt. But he went into the process with a very open mind.
Today, he’s playing a lot and has above-average qualities. I’m very happy with his performance, with or without the ball. Here, you have to be competitive in both situations. He’s adapted well to that and we’re very happy to have him.
