Paris Saint-Germain beat Liverpool on penalties (1-1 on aggregate, then 1-4 on penalties) (Liverpool/PSG video highlights) this Tuesday at Anfield in the second leg of the Champions League 2024-2025 Round of 16. After the match, Paris coach Luis Enrique spoke at a press conference. The Spaniard spoke of his side’s qualification and their ambitions for the rest of the competition.
Enrique “this is a very important moment for us”.
What emotions are running through your head tonight?
“I have a feeling of joy, of satisfaction. It’s very difficult to analyze this game because of the emotions that are 100%. But this is a very important moment for us, for the players, the team and the fans, especially the 3,000 who have come here.”
Enrique “I think we lived up to this match.”
Can tonight be called an achievement or a deserved victory in both games?
“I think whatever would have happened today would have been fair. I think we deserved this qualification even more, and not just because of our performance in the first game. I think we showed what kind of team we are.
A team with a lot of personality, a lot of character, a team that plays its soccer no matter what ground it plays on. Even though today Liverpool were better than us at times, we never stopped attacking, creating danger, and I think we were up to the task in this match.”
What did you think of Donnarumma’s performance tonight, much criticized after the first leg?
“I think the first part is for Alisson and the second for Donnarumma. We’re bound by this 1-1 draw. I think the penalties also reflect what kind of team we are, the last one being taken by a 19-year-old player. Liverpool are an impressive team, very powerful, one of the best in Europe. I’m happy for Gio, for the team, for everyone.”
Do you consider this match your best since your arrival?
“Last year we did something similar when we went to Barcelona. We had to win. We were eliminated in the semi-final with six shots on the posts. We deserved to be in the final. Now we’re in the quarter-finals.
We’re a very stable team, at home and away. But this is a two-legged competition and the slightest mistake can knock you out. I’m sure this match will help us grow and bring immeasurable joy to the fans.”
Enrique “We’re on a very good run”.
Can this qualification give you even more ambition for the future?
“It’s obviously an amplifier of positivity for us, I like what I’ve seen. Although at times we were outplayed by Liverpool, who are one of the best teams in Europe at the moment. We held on thanks to our personality and the penalties, which are a lottery, but without really being one.
I think that what inspired my players when they took the penalties, with their self-confidence and personality, strengthened us and our ideas. At the end of the week we have another very important match, and after that we’ll have an international break. We’re in a very good frame of mind and very happy to have won today.”
Enrique: “We’re thinking about how difficult this competition is, how hard it is to win”.
Does it make any difference to you to be the favorite for the competition?
“Anything positive about the team seems wonderful to me. What people say about us isn’t going to change our mentality, our intentions, which are obviously to go as far as possible in this competition and be in a position to win it. Of course, we’re thinking about progressing little by little, and we’re also thinking about the difficulty of this competition, the difficulty of winning it. But it’s obvious that this strengthens us.”
How was the dressing room after the win?
“You saw the way we celebrated with our supporters! In the dressing room, it was a party, but with the awareness that we haven’t done anything yet. But that we’ve eliminated one of the best teams in Europe.”
Enrique “I rely much more on the sensations of the goalkeeper and the players.”
Had you prepared for the penalty shoot-out?
“We had to calculate the changes tonight based on fatigue and other parameters. It was complicated. No, I wasn’t afraid. For Spain-Morocco, I sent out three penalty specialists and we couldn’t take the fourth, so we went home.
Here, it was Désiré Doué, a 19-year-old boy, who scored the last penalty. I rely much more on the sensations of the goalkeeper and the players. What counts is that the energy is flowing and what was supposed to happen happens. That’s more important than I think.”
