Champions League : "We are convinced that we will turn the situation around"promises Luis Enrique before Barça-PSG
True to himself, Luis Enrique rehearsed his routines on Monday April 15, on the eve of the Champions League quarter-final return leg between his Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona. Sometimes dry, other times sarcastic, he made this day before the big meeting a press conference like any other. He managed not to give the impression that his team was on the edge of the abyss, or even crushed by this irrational pressure which had been pursuing them for many years.
“PSG has never been able to reverse such a situation, but tomorrow is the day [pour le faire] (…) We are convinced that we will turn the situation around.”, he dared in front of a packed room, not inhibited by the sea of photographers who threw themselves on him before he even uttered a single word. When such sentences are uttered by the architect of the 2017 comeback, who saw his team recover from a 4-0 first leg, analyzing them solely as arrogance would be simplistic.
Unlike Barça, who had to play a La Liga match between the first leg and the return leg (won 1-0 against Cadiz on Saturday with a very reshuffled team), Luis Enrique had time to learn the lessons of the defeat at the Parc ( 2-3). “The two days after the defeat were difficult. We had to get back in good physical and mental condition. But it’s the life of an athlete to fall and get up again. We must not exaggerate this defeat, we must accept it “he explained, recalling that this setback came after a series of 27 matches without defeat.
Asked several times about the strategy that his players will adopt, Luis Enrique has obviously not revealed his plan of attack. Nor should we expect Achraf Hakimi to make major revelations. On the other hand, the Parisian coach warned that he expected the match to be very similar to the first leg. “We will do as usual: press and create superiorities when we have the ball. I think both teams will score”he even predicted.
At training, the players arrived on the pitch at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium with the same laughter and cheers observed the day before the victory at Real Sociedad in the previous round. With the exception of Presnel Kimpembe, still convalescing, the group is complete. Bradley Barcola is “fit to play”.
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