This Friday, PSG finally knew their opponent for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. And surprisingly, the opponent is regular as it is once again (for the 6th time in 12 years) FC Barcelona. An obviously very special match, first because it is directly related to the iconic comeback of 2017, but also because the two clubs are connected by players (Osmane Dembele) and coach: Luis Enrique. The Spanish technician, today on the bench in Paris, was at the head of the Blaugranas during the 6-1 and more generally, he spent 3 years on the Catalan bench (8 years as a player).
So apparently, he wasn’t offended by the idea of seeing him return to his favorite club, quite the contrary. “I am happy, very happy with this draw. I’m going home (laughs). Such things always happen in matches between PSG and Barça. Both the teams have a lot of history, they have experienced intense things, so it will be a promising match.He spoke into PSG TV’s microphone before proceeding to a press conference. “We were lucky, we returned to Spain. We Spaniards love our country. I am returning to the city where I built my sports career. That is very good news. We knew C1 would give us a big team with high-level individual quality.
Strong words from Luis Enrique on comeback
The former La Roja coach then spoke about the draw throughout and his desire not to put too much pressure on his group in a competition emotionally poorly managed by the Paris players. “There are two parts to the draw. There is one where we are, four could be in the final with Dortmund, Atlético, PSG and Barca. And there are the favourites, Real, City, Bayern and Arsenal on the other side. So this is probably the hardest part of the square to predict. On our side of the table, we have opportunities. It is very interesting. Stress in C1? I’m going to do what I’m doing now, that’s the pre-match message, the week before. So when we concede a goal or something, our fans are excited. We want patrons to experience this with great passion and we must continue with the same message.
But in this press conference, Luis Enrique apparently could not escape the questions about the comeback, which he experienced from within and in the opposite camp. A sensitive subject for Parisian supporters that the Spanish coach has handled rather well. Headlined by a journalist about the possibility that this match could be the most memorable moment of his career, Luis Enrique gave a rather surprising response. “It’s not the best moment of my career because it was useless after Juventus released us later. So we can’t win the C1. It was special, but it was not the most important match of my career. And to make a comeback, there was a forward. PSG won 4-0 in the week, they idolized the coach and also in the media. And that’s normal. They only talk to me about the comeback, but before that, we were between life and death. It was not pleasant to be with him. Me, I especially remember the 4-0, but I also remember the 6-1, yeah. That’s part of the history, I’m proud of my career. As a coach and as a player. I definitely could have done better, but I did that. The current wants me to be on PSG bench for this match and I will give my best version.
A reunion with Xavi
As usual, Luis Enrique did not fail to show his confidence for this double encounter. If he is aware of the talent of this Barcelona team, he also knows that his team is ready for this type of encounter. “Like it or not, I don’t care. I believe I have expressed the confidence I have in my team. Due to the experience of the players in this competition we will be better grateful. We have been ambitious since the start of the season. Fans are going to see a team that is going to struggle. We’re not going to guess if someone’s going to beat us, well done, but we want to win. We have all the players ready. This is our biggest advantage.”
In front of him, the former Roma coach will also find a man he knows well: Xavi Hernandez. Luis Enrique, the current coach of Barca, was the captain of Barca. The advantage of reaching this quarter-final? Not really according to LE. “I don’t know Xavi’s job as a coach, but he knows mine. That has changed over the years. But I see his work at the club, we’ve all seen it and we all know it. I would have loved him to coach me as a player. It would be a good opportunity. When you are at a club like Barça you have to have the level to coach. So Xavi is ready and has won La Liga. It is a top, historic club and it will be difficult. They have won 5 C1. They know what they are doing. And we don’t have any C1, but we have ambitions to do that. We don’t know if we will win or not, but that is our goal. » It is also the objective of all Paris supporters who will continue to dream of the first star.
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