Luis Enrique: “The illusion of winning the Champions League with PSG is eating away at us”
The Parisian coach also revealed a conversation with Luís Campos when he took over the club and had a lot of praise for Mbappé
Luis Enrique is in his second season at PSG , and the first went very well, especially at national level, where the team won all three competitions and even reached the semi-finals of the Champions League , where they were eliminated by Dortmund .
In an interview with Movistar+ , the Spaniard recalled the conversations he had with the Parisian board, where he proposed a strategic change before taking over as the club’s coach: «When I was hired, I had to convince those in charge, the president and Luís Campos, that this was the right path to follow. With the previous players, I wouldn’t have come. They didn’t need me for that. I came because the circumstances were what I wanted them to be. I said… ‘if these players are available, I’ll come’, but with complete freedom. The idea was to get back on the right track. In the future, we’re going to try not to pay exorbitant amounts for players who don’t have that price tag. It’s not good for the player or for the health of the sport. Last year, I had a challenge with Mbappé , which was to bring out his best version and win titles. We did that. Now we’ve changed the game model. We are trying to maximize the versatility of this squad,” he began by saying, before praising the Frenchman and wishing him all the best at Real Madrid .
“In Kylian ’s case , I found a wonderful player and a person of exceptional quality, something you rarely find when you arrive and see a player of this level of humanity, affectionate and approachable, a wonderful player. What a shame he went to Madrid! Especially for us at the time, but life is also part of the game. Good luck to him. I have nothing to criticize him for, we were conditioned by his departure. We always tried to improve his virtues and disguise his defects. He was always very polite and respectful. Just like his brother and his parents,” he assured, then talking about the obsession with winning the millionaire league and recalling the tie with Real Sociedad in the round of 16 of the competition.
“The illusion of winning the Champions League with PSG is eating away at us. If Real Sociedad had gone ahead, we might not have won the game. Marquinhos acknowledged that the coach put us in our place at half-time. That’s my job. To help my team when they’re struggling. I like to contribute in difficult moments. You always have to try to find the right message for the players. One thing that’s very important for a coach, and we work towards that, is that the messages at half-time are what the team needs and not the coach. We always have criticisms,” he explained, also recalling the next stage, the quarter-finals against his Barcelona .
“It was horrible. Coming home against the club that gave me the most as a player and coach was horrible for me and my team. We deserved more in the first leg, we lost and there was a lot of criticism against me that also ended up reaching my family, but my relationship with Barcelona is unique. I feel very loved by the club and the fans. I can’t imagine a final against Barcelona. I hope we don’t play against them again this season,” he concluded.
