NOS Football•today, 11:25 am
PSG coach Enrique confident for CL clash with Dortmund: ‘We are going to win’
You cannot blame Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique for a lack of self-confidence. “We are going to win,” the Spaniard assured the world about tonight’s return in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.
PSG has to make up for a 1-0 defeat against the Germans in their own Parc des Princes. ‘On va gagner‘ is, according to Enrique, the only French sentence he knows. “One I love.”
Winning is the main thing, the manner in which is secondary for the offensively strong French. Enrique: “The goal is not to win by two goals. It’s about winning in general. We have to score one goal first. Even if we do that in the 89th minute, we will go into extra time. We don’t have to immediately score, we just want to win the game.”
“Our very clear goal is to qualify for the final. To do that we have to be better than Dortmund.”
That was not a given last week. Propelled by the roaring supporter sound of the famous ‘Gelbe Wand’, the black yellows of Dortmund surprised the Parisians.
Call
PSG ultras have now called on the city to support their club. “We call on all Parisians to be one. Our passion and madness will spread through the city. We are playing one of the most important matches in the history of our club.” A call to overwhelm Dortmund with atmosphere.
“The fans will be of vital importance,” Enrique emphasized. “We have the best supporters in the world and now they have to support us again, as they have been doing all season. We saw the atmosphere in Dortmund, it will be at least as good here.”
PSG has never won the Champions League, even after the Qatari takeover. The desire for that cup is enormous. PSG came close in 2020 when they lost to Bayern Munich in the final (1-0). It also did not work with a star forward line of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
For the latter superstar, Mbappé, the match against Dortmund could easily be the last European match for PSG. Rumors about a move to Real Madrid are persistent. Spanish and English media reported in February that the French attacker, whose contract expires in the summer, is leaving for Real.
Enrique feels the importance of the return against Dortmund. “This is the most important match since I have been working at PSG. On Tuesday we will represent PSG, Paris, but also France and all our supporters around the world.”
And it doesn’t work? “Then life goes on,” Enrique suddenly said very lightly. “The sun is shining, the weather in Paris is good. Then we will compliment the opponent and have a clear goal for next season.”
