Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, President of Paris Saint-Germain, spoke to CBS Sports Golazo after the 2-1 victory (3-1 on aggregate) over Arsenal this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes as part of the return semi-finals of the Champions League 2024-2025 (final on May 31). He spoke of a very stressful evening, but also of a remarkable run, with confidence still high despite the difficulties.
Al-Khelaïfi: “We’ve always had faith in our players and our coach.”
What were your feelings during the semi-final?
It was stressful, I almost had a cardiac arrest (laughs). But it’s a great feeling to be in the final, after a long and difficult season. At one point, we were almost eliminated in the league phase. We had to win the last 3 games, lost to City 0-2 and came back. It was a difficult draw, with complicated matches.
But the team has progressed, and we’ve always had faith in our players and our coach, as well as our supporters. They’re exceptional. We went from near elimination in the league phase to the final.
Could you imagine being in the final ?
I wasn’t thinking about the final until we qualified for the playoff. We set our goals game by game. Honestly, the goal wasn’t to get to the final yet. But today, we’re there. There’s only one game left. It’s an extraordinary feeling.
Al-Khelaïfi “They’re young, they’re hungry.”
Are you happy with Luis Enrique’s progress ?
Of course we are! Even when we were close to elimination, I can promise you that we weren’t thinking of changing plans. We believed in our plan. We’re sticking with it, whatever the result. Even if we’d lost in the semi-finals, quarters or 8th. We believe in our coach and our players. They’re young and hungry.
The youngest team in history in the final ?
It’s the project, young players who are hungry, who fight for the team, who could die for the jersey, the club. We saw that today.
