The Spanish coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Enrique, said on Monday that his players have enough strength to turn the tables on their Spanish host Barcelona on Tuesday in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League and qualify for the semi-finals.
The Catalan team achieved a valuable victory over its Parisian host 3-2 last Wednesday in the first leg, and the latter is now required to win by two goals at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona on Tuesday to continue its journey in the competition that is chasing its first title in its history.
Enrique, who led the Catalan club to its fifth and final title in the prestigious continental competition in 2015, told reporters: “Paris Saint-Germain was unable to achieve victory after losing the first leg, but tomorrow is the right day. Tomorrow we will do it, after the defeat and in such an important match.” “The days after the match were difficult.”
He continued, “It is difficult to regain your state of mind, but the good thing in football is that you have another match against the same opponent.” He added, “We are sure of what we want to do and I think we have reached a great moment.”
He explained, “This second match is a little different. We have not played since the first leg. We had time to analyze and improve our performance. The first leg was very competitive. The result does not reflect what we deserved. We could have tied. But we have to present a better version of ourselves and we are convinced.” “We will turn the tables.”
Barcelona, led by Enrique as coach, crushed Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in the second leg of the round of 16 in 2017 and overturned its loss by 4-0 in the first leg in Paris.
Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé suffered in the first leg and did not show any threat to the Catalan club’s defense, and Enrique was criticized for the way he dealt with the France captain.
Paris Saint-Germain will regain the services of Achraf Hakimi after he missed the first leg due to suspension. The Moroccan international defender said, “We want to forget what happened and we came here to win.”
The coach concluded his speech by saying: “Tomorrow is the right time for the great players to give everything to win.”
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