Paris Saint-Germain defeated Auxerre 0-1 this Friday at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps in Matchday 19 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season. After the match, PSG coach Luis Enrique spoke at a press conference.
Enrique: “It was difficult to play today.”
Is this an important victory for your team?
“I think it’s very clear, it’s a special moment, because we played three days earlier in Portugal. We had the opportunity to put pressure on Lens, and that’s the main thing today. It was difficult to play today. We created chances, but we lacked confidence and precision to finish them. The match was complicated, and when we scored that goal, it was very important for us.”
Is there a lack of confidence in front of goal?
“When you do better things than your opponent but you’re not able to win, as was the case in Portugal, it makes you lose confidence. During the first 15 minutes, we created chances, but we missed them; they defended well.
We have to keep going, we have to work. We have to improve because the key moment of the season is coming in the Champions League, and we have to put Lens under pressure.”
Enrique: “It’s a time when we’re imprecise.”
Can this goal kick-start Bradley Barcola’s season?
“I wasn’t singling anyone out. Today, Bradley was very good. He created an advantage, he created chances, he had opportunities to score. It’s hard to be precise. It’s not a problem specific to strikers; the midfielders also had chances. It’s a time when we’re imprecise; we have to change that and work to be as precise as possible for the next match.”
Are you worried about this?
“Of course, every time you see players who aren’t precise and you lose possession in ways you’re not used to, it makes things more difficult in the match. You start to see confidence wane. If we’d had as much bad luck as we did in Portugal, we could have lost that match!”
Enrique: “Everyone knows the individual quality of our players.”
What do you intend to do to address this problem?
“I think it’s not a technical skill, it’s mainly a question of confidence. And confidence isn’t something you can buy. Confidence comes when you see that you’re capable of finishing plays. We have quality in training. The players aren’t machines. Tonight, we weren’t precise in our ball movement. We can change that because everyone knows the individual quality of our players.”
Are you confident for the Champions League match against Newcastle?
“The team has experience in big matches, as they’ve shown over the last two seasons. I’m confident for Wednesday at the Parc des Princes; we’re going to play a very good match, aiming to dominate and win.”
