Luis Enrique Martínez, coach of PSG, almost at the same time as Xavi Hernández, coach of Barça, to make his first assessment of the confrontation that the two teams will have in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. “I’m going home, like Christmas,” said the coach who won the 2015 treble leading the Barça team, certainly during Xavi’s last year as captain and footballer.
“Barcelona is a very special place for me, while PSG and Barça are two teams with which we shared many things together… many curiosities,” said the coach who must have been on the culé bench on the day of the historic 6 -1 return. against PSG in the 2016-17 Champions League, certainly one of the “shared” things that Luis Enrique mentioned without mentioning them outright. Right from the start, he warned about something considering the favorite status assigned to PSG in France. “It’s going to be hard”, predicted when remembering that “We haven’t won the Champions League yet.” “That will be our goal and I don’t know if there will be a club with more ambition than us”he added.
Xavi hailed more than 1,000 kilometers south of Paris as “one of the best coaches out there”, while Luis Enrique offered a unique tribute to his former player. “I don’t know Xavi’s work as a coach and he knows mine, but I would have liked him, Guardiola or Arteta to train me. Someone like Xavi has a level, he won the League championship,” he recalled .
He completely relativized the role of favorite.”Whether we are favorite or not, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. Of course, he appreciates the qualities of his team. “I conveyed my confidence to the team, I believe we will be better, on the experience of the players in this competition. We want to continue with our idea, so that our fans are proud of us,” he said before admitting that nothing is written in football. “If someone beats us, we take off our hats. I can put anyone on the field tomorrow, they’re ready. This is our biggest advantage,” he said.
Luis Enrique still left a returning remorse about Barça’s famous comeback against PSG at the Camp Nou, given how that Champions League ended. “Unfortunately That return is useless. Juventus fired us, so it wasn’t the most special game of my career. PSG won at Barcelona, 4-0. We remember me ‘returning’, but we were between life and death 15 days before. Then, the panorama changed. I remember 4-0 and 6-1. It’s part of history, I’m proud of it. I wouldn’t change anything in my career. “I probably could have done more, but I gave it my best,” he recalled.
The emotional implications of returning to Barcelona are permanent. “I came back to Barcelona, which is the city where I spent most of my career and I feel very good there, This is very good news. “We know that the competition will give us a great opportunity,” he commented. Luis Enrique has warned again that Barça are not just rivals. “This is a very tough and high-level team. The giveaway has two parts. We have to show that we deserve to continue on the field.” In any case, he underlined that “Favorites are on the other side of the table”, where the Real Madrid-Manchester City and Arsenal-Bayern qualifiers will go. “Hard to predict. Very interesting,” he added.
Although it seems unlikely, Luis Enrique addressed the media ahead of the visit of Montpellier in Ligue 1, after three straight draws in the French championship. “It’s true that we have three straight draws in the league, but I’m not worried, we’ve had some bad games. “We want to be champions as soon as possible and fight for all the titles.”he concluded.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
