Champions League
PSG Vs Dortmund: ‘We Have To Stay Calm’ Says Enrique Ahead Of UCL Clash
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique aimed to relieve the pressure on his team ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Borussia Dortmund, advising them not to be concerned about the need to win by a two-goal margin to advance to the final.
PSG faces the task of reversing a 1-0 deficit from the first leg last week, as Niclas Fuellkrug’s goal secured Dortmund a narrow win in Germany.
“The objective is not to play to win by two goals, it is just to win. You can’t afford to think about having to win by two goals,” Luis Enrique told reporters on Monday, weighing up the possibility of the tie being decided in extra time and even penalties. “We need to score one first of all, and win the match.”
PSG are looking to repeat their heroics in the quarter-finals when they lost 3-2 at home to Barcelona in the first leg but qualified with a 4-1 win in the return despite conceding the opening goal in Spain.
“It doesn’t matter if we concede – it happened against Barcelona we’ll just need to stay calm,” the Spaniard added ahead of the second leg.”
He also mentioned that the strategy to involve top-scorer Kylian Mbappe more in the game doesn’t necessarily involve asking him to drop deeper to receive the ball.
Mbappe, who has netted 43 goals for PSG this season, including a brace in the second leg against Real Sociedad in the last 16 and two more goals away at Barcelona, struggled to make a major impact in Dortmund last week.
“Our objective is that our best players participate. The more they take part in the game the better it is,” he said. “But I want my strikers to be touching the ball in the areas where they can make a difference. I want him to get on the ball where he can be dangerous.”
Dortmund prepared for the second leg by defeating Augsburg 5-1 in the Bundesliga, fielding a starting line-up that featured 10 changes from the squad that played against PSG a few days before.
In contrast, PSG had a weekend off as the French league rescheduled their match away against Nice to May 15 to assist in their preparations.
“Obviously in life, there I not only work. You need to also do things outside of work to be better at your job,” Luis Enrique said. “I love sport, I love cycling, playing padel – we have a court here I like having leisure time, and professionally it has been a good week too.”
He stated, “We have had time to analyze, we have had training sessions focusing on defense and the attack, and today it will be a normal session on the eve of a game, a bit more relaxed. We are thinking about how lucky we are to be playing in a semi-final.”
PSG are aiming to reach their second Champions League final after they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in Lisbon in 2020. They have never won the trophy, but Luis Enrique said he was prepared for the possibility of a disappointing defeat.
“Life will continue and when the sun shines in Paris it is always marvelous,” he said. “If we lose we will congratulate them and we will wake up again the next day. We might be disgusted, but we will be proud and will say to ourselves that we will get up again and try to get to the final next year.”
