Paris Saint-Germain beat Rennes 1-4 (video highlights Rennes/PSG) this Saturday at Roazhon Park on Matchday 25 of Ligue 1 2024-2025. After the match, Paris coach Luis Enrique spoke at a press conference. The Spaniard spoke about the success against Rennes and, of course, the upcoming Champions League Round of 8 second leg against Liverpool.
Enrique “I like the mentality of my team.”
After that victory over Rennes, is your mind focused on the Liverpool game?
“I lied, of course we were thinking about the game against Liverpool, like everyone else. I’d also like to emphasize the work of my team and the mentality of all the players, whether they’re playing or not. I love my team’s mentality.”
Has Kvaratskhelia definitely come into his own?
“I don’t like to talk about individualities, but I emphasize the quality of all the players. Kvaratskhelia arrived during the winter mercato, but everyone already knew his qualities from his performances for Napoli and the national team. He’s a player with great potential, and he’s obviously integrating better and better as time goes by. For me, it’s wonderful to have such committed players.”
Enrique “We’re in the best possible shape to face Liverpool.”
Does this mentality, which you like, make you even more hopeful this Tuesday?
“With the staff and the technical team we have to evaluate the minutes of play in view of this decisive match against Liverpool. We’re relying on the players’ impressions, and it’s up to us to manage this load and this distribution of minutes so that everything is as balanced as possible. We’re in the best possible shape to face Liverpool. We have nothing to lose and we’re going to give everything to qualify.”
Enrique “Today we have nothing to lose”
After losing a match so cruelly, does hope rise a little more each day?
“The beautiful and dramatic thing about soccer is that everything is unpredictable. If everything were predictable, it would be much more boring. Soccer allows for surprises and it’s obvious that there’s sadness in the hours following a defeat, but as we analyze the match, as we see the players in training and as we play a team like Rennes, which is a very difficult team, we gain confidence. Today we’ve got nothing to lose, we’ve already lost. And that’s why we’re even more dangerous.”
Enrique “The results show his evolution and hard work.”
Are Ousmane Dembélé’s performances living up to your expectations?
“Ousmane is at a higher level, he has a lot of confidence in himself, he has always made the difference. His team-mates are looking for him, and even today they gave him some great gifts. Ousmane is decisive and is where we expect him to be.”
What’s your opinion of Habib Beye after this match?
“The results are there. It’s one of the games where we had the most difficulty. Our opponents put in a lot of pressure, and at one point they could have equalised. The results show that we’re evolving and working hard.”
