“I hope the most important match will not be this one, but later, at another level and to play for a title. » Luis Enrique plays down the drama. Despite its seven small points taken in six Champions League matches, six goals scored, six goals conceded, its PSG faces Manchester City confident. All its players are ready and available, the squad is involved, Paris is producing play. It is creating lots of xG. “I believe that in our three home games we were infinitely superior to our opponents”said Luis Enrique after the defeat against Atlético de Madrid (1-2). The points will come, that’s for sure. Time will prove Luis Enrique’s project right. If not tonight, it will be against Stuttgart next week, or later.
In short, and we know it, football is nothing to play for. The result of this PSG-Manchester City may tip the winner to the good side of history, the loser to the bad, but it will in no way be irrevocable for either. The justice of the peace: the quality of the game proposed, if we are to believe Luis Enrique, but also Pep Guardiola. The former opponent, rival and teammate also said it, after a victory at Tottenham: “Do you know why I’m a genius today? Because Riyad Mahrez passed a ball between two hips and scored a goal. There are lessons that are learned from anecdotal gestures. We could have drawn or lost, it would have been the same. » In short, whatever the result against City: it is at the end of the ball that we will do the counting.
The manner and the spirit
In the Champions League, if Paris does not win, nothing ever seems inevitable. He lost against Atlético, but produced some play. He did not win against PSV, but lacked realism. He is 26e of the ranking, but still has every chance of finishing in the 24. Benfica’s defeat against Barça has already removed the specter of a disaster scenario in the event of a disaster against City. Don’t worry, PSG has all the cards in hand to get through the groups, like every time for 20 years, and we now know that everything will be decided in Stuttgart next week. So much the worse for the duel to the death promised for a month.
Walking on the edge of a precipice, the Rouge et Bleu did it last season. In a different format of course, but they were two games away from elimination from the group stage. Two draws against Newcastle and Dortmund were finally enough to make the cut. So, does PSG absolutely have to win this Wednesday? No. « The only obligation for a player and a coach is to give 100%, to improve, to work on all aspects of footballhe explained at a press conference. No one can win everything. You have to know how to deal with defeat, difficult times, and manage it all as normally as possible. » A way to avoid talking about the fact that Paris has only had one victory in six games against Manchester City.
-https://twitter.com/OptaJean/status/1848832492314165520
And the light will be?
“PSG should have won two more games, against PSV Eindhoven and Atlético de Madrid. We should have five more points this morning, counts the Spaniard. We must accept that we did not have the level of efficiency we needed. But I’m going to turn this observation into a positive: I think, like last year in what you called the group of death, that we’re going to get through it after having had to fight to the end to qualify. What I see in my team gives me great optimism, great confidence. » Yes, it will work. Everything depends on goal, Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé and Gonçalo Ramos will end up being successful this Wednesday evening or next week.
Except that by dint of putting things into perspective, we forget the terrain. Luis Enrique’s record in the Champions League is that of the worst PSG coach in the Qatari version. At home, he has lost three of his last five C1 matches. But no matter, his seat is less ejectable than that of Thomas Tuchel or Mauricio Pochettino. The club has changed, it is in a new phase. It’s relative. It’s feeling. It’s a wet finger. Before the match against Atlético, Luis Enrique also said it: “Our obligation, what I look for as a coach, is to have the same statistics as against PSV and Girona. » With goals. Ultimately, this theory of relativization looks a lot like the Coué method.
Benfica-Barcelona: welcome to Absurdy
