Luis Enrique on how PSG will overturn 1-0 Liverpool deficit in Champions League last 16 - with English translation
10/03/2025
Anfield, Liverpool, UK
10/03/2025
Anfield, Liverpool, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Wednesday, are you convinced you can still qualify?
00:03It seems to be the case.
00:05Was it easy to convey that belief to your players?
00:07Do they believe you can win?
00:30Tomorrow we will talk about the match and what kind of match we think will happen.
00:41Our approach has not changed much.
00:44In this case, regardless of the result, it would not have changed our way of preparing for this match.
00:53But what is true is that now we are eliminated with this result.
00:58So we only have one option left, which is to go out and win.
01:03That was what we were going to do, although the result would have been different.
01:28Our approach has not changed much.
01:30Regardless of the result, it would not have changed our way of preparing for this match.
01:33But now we are eliminated with this result.
01:35So we only have one option left, which is to go out and win.
01:39That was what we were going to do, although the result would have been different.
01:42But now we are eliminated with this result.
01:44So we only have one option left, which is to go out and win.
01:46That is what is driving us tomorrow.
01:48Thousands of fans will be coming to Liverpool from Paris.
01:56They've been creating a wonderful atmosphere, together with the Liverpool fans here.
02:00How are you preparing for this?
02:02How are you going to add to the atmosphere tomorrow in Liverpool?
02:07I don't think there is a player on the squad who doesn't want to play tomorrow at Anfield.
02:10We know that it is a legendary stadium in Europe, with a powerful history behind it.
02:17It is a motivation for us as a team.
02:20We want to show individually that we can play a very good game in front of a very good Liverpool on their ground.
02:27Why not?
02:29That is our goal and our motivation.
02:36I'm pretty convinced that absolutely every single one of my players are going to want to play tomorrow here at Liverpool.
02:44We know what playing at Liverpool means.
02:46It is a legendary stadium with a powerful history behind it.
02:50It is a motivation for us as a team.
02:52We want to show individually that we can play a very good game in front of a very good Liverpool on their ground.
02:57It is our goal and our motivation.
02:59That is our goal and our motivation.
03:05You talked about motivation.
03:07In this kind of a game, you don't need to give any more motivation to the players.
03:14I suppose you also focus quite a lot on trying to control their emotions going into this game as well,
03:20because otherwise that is a trap you fall into.
03:43I think I have spoken about this in the past.
04:02Last season we spoke about this, that when we are playing a match at the top of the level,
04:07it is difficult to manage one's emotions and feelings.
04:10These are not easy games to prepare for.
04:14It is not easy to be at 100% because in these cases you have a risk of exaggeration.
04:20It is more vital to manage your emotions.
04:27After the match against Southampton, Arnie Slott said that after the Southampton game,
04:35Liverpool had fallen about 4 or 5 levels below the intensity expressed by PSG in the week.
04:43Are you proud about that?
04:45Are you proud that Slott is saying you are playing with such intensity?
04:48Do you think that you are going to be able to play to the same level of intensity tomorrow, both on and off the ball?
04:56Of course, trying to be better than the opponent is a common goal that we try in every game,
05:02especially when you play away from home.
05:05Despite the fact that we have found very positive results in all the games we have played in the league,
05:16it is always very difficult to play away from home.
05:19There are always things that you cannot control,
05:22but in that sense I think that for us everything starts with football.
05:27It is what gives us confidence, knowing what we do well,
05:31what things we have to be at an even higher level,
05:36and we always refer to football, which is what interests us.
05:40If we have the ball, which is our goal, we will be able to manage our best capacity
05:47and from here we will see how we are in the game.
06:17Everything starts with the way in which we play football.
06:19That is where we draw our confidence from.
06:21We are confident in what we do, what we do well.
06:24We know the areas that we have to improve.
06:26We are focused on the football, playing football.
06:29If we keep possession of the ball, which is our aim,
06:32then we are able to play our own game
06:35and then we will see how things develop over the course of the game.
06:39You played a wonderful European game in the first match.
06:46Do you think you can do more, doing the same thing, or do you need to change something else?
06:50Yes, you can always improve.
06:52It is obvious.
06:53The circumstances are different.
06:55In our case, every action in the game is reinforced by our fans,
06:59and you can see that in the atmosphere.
07:01I think we were very good in many aspects of the game, which are vital for us.
07:05Tomorrow we will be more balanced.
07:07It is obvious that this happens,
07:11I am always optimistic about what my team can do,
07:16and it is obvious that everything happens to control the important phases of the game.
07:25That happens by attacking all together, defending all together,
07:29through the ball, having the ball as long as possible,
07:32and from there, generating our attacking situations.
07:42Well, there is always room for improvement.
07:47We know that.
07:48But circumstances change from one game to the next.
07:50When you are at home, everything you do is supported by your fans,
07:53so you are buoyed by your fans.
07:56We have to be good at what we know how to do.
07:59Tomorrow the game is bound to be more balanced,
08:02but I am very optimistic when it comes to the ability that my team has.
08:06I think it is important to control the important phases of the game.
08:10We need to attack together, defend together,
08:13and we also need to keep the ball.
08:16Once we keep the ball, then we will be able to create dangerous opportunities in the score.
08:23Well, in 2017 you turned it around from Barcelona.
08:29You had about four goals gap to make up for, the famous remontada.
08:33It is the kind of game you like, I think, isn't it?
08:37And what do you need to do to change this game around?
08:47No, I don't like it.
08:48I would rather not have scored the Paris-Saint-Denis 4-0 when I was training at Barça.
08:55No, I don't like it.
08:57I don't like it at all.
08:59Throughout my career, I think that the worse it is,
09:05there are also situations to manage,
09:09and I have no problem in dealing with them in a direct and unbridled way.
09:18But I would rather have a positive result.
09:21No, it certainly isn't the kind of situation that I prefer or like.
09:31I would have preferred to have been winning 4-0, to be honest with you,
09:34in return against PSG.
09:37But throughout my career, I have realized that sometimes,
09:41when you really have your back against the world,
09:43you can react, you can do something.
09:45I won't be hesitating.
09:46You need to meet these things head on.
09:50I would have preferred not to be going into the game and leaving it tomorrow, of course.
09:55You often say that there's no point in talking to your players straight after the game,
10:00because it's too soon.
10:02It's too soon to talk to your players.
10:04Did you speak to your players after the game?
10:06You did speak to your players after the game on Wednesday.
10:08What did you feel your players needed from you on Wednesday after that game?
10:20We strongly believe that it's not the ideal time to speak to someone
10:25who can't do anything in the game,
10:27someone who is completely conditioned by the result.
10:31But after the game against Liverpool on Wednesday,
10:36I did reinforce my team, my players,
10:39because I think they had done everything to get another result.
10:42I think you can always make exceptions, and that was the day.
10:47I don't think it will happen again.
10:51I have often told you why I almost never speak to my players at the end of the game.
11:00It's my view of things, not everyone has to agree.
11:03I believe that speaking to players right after the game,
11:07there's no point to it, because the players are just thinking about the result at that point.
11:11But yeah, sure, after the game against Liverpool on Wednesday,
11:13I decided to talk to my players,
11:15because I wanted to pick them up a little bit
11:17and tell them that they'd done absolutely everything to get a good result.
11:20So I made an exception on Wednesday, last Wednesday,
11:23but I don't think I'll be doing it again.
11:29Hello coach, Andrea Laperna, France Info.
11:31You never give anything away in a press conference that might help your opponents.
11:43What kind of impact can catching your opponents by surprise actually have?
11:51Because you never give anything away.
11:53So do you have any surprises up your sleeve?
12:03I don't think Arnaud has any doubts about what the relegation is.
12:10More or less.
12:12I don't have many doubts about what the relegation is going to be.
12:16The coaches tell us what we want to say,
12:20and depending on that, I don't usually pay much attention to what the coaches say,
12:25because I don't tell the truth either.
12:28I don't say who's going to play, or how.
12:31What is true is that, both in the first leg and tomorrow,
12:35I think there will be a match between two of the best teams in Europe,
12:39two teams that can be European champions.
12:42One of them, obviously, at the end of the match.
12:47And tomorrow there will be a match, each one with their own style,
12:51but two of the best teams in Europe, without a doubt.
12:54After you give more or less information, it's part of the style of each one.
13:00I don't think Arnaud has any doubts about what the relegation is going to be.
13:07I don't have many doubts about what the relegation is going to be.
13:12The coaches tell us what we want to say,
13:15and depending on that, I don't usually pay much attention to what the coaches say.
13:20I don't tell the truth either.
13:23I don't say who's going to play, or how.
13:26I don't say who's going to play tomorrow.
13:29But one thing that is sure is that, over the course of the two games,
13:33we'll be seeing two of the best teams in Europe playing,
13:37two teams which are certainly contenders to win the Champions League final.
13:42Certainly, whoever wins tomorrow will go through, I think, to the final,
13:46playing two different styles, but nevertheless,
13:49two of the best teams in Europe, and giving away information.
13:53It depends on each person's style of coaching, I guess.
13:58Well, you dominated the first game, and you hoped to go through, of course.
14:05But this could be the last truly important game of the season,
14:11or it could be just the next step on your voyage this season.
14:23I don't know what the competition will be like.
14:26Tomorrow, when the game is over, one of us will be eliminated.
14:29I hope it won't be Paris-Saint-Germain.
14:32That's our goal, and that's what we're going to fight for.
14:35The first leg makes us walk towards a direction.
14:39There's nothing to speculate about.
14:41We weren't going to do it anyway, but it clearly points us towards a goal.
14:46From the first minute, from the warm-up, we want to win this game.
14:50That's our option to get through to the next phase.
14:58Well, I always hope that the most important game is the one that comes next.
15:06And I hope it will be the very last game of the season as well.
15:10But tomorrow, quite clearly, by the end of the game, one team will be knocked out.
15:14I hope that it's not us. We don't want to get knocked out, of course.
15:19Even though we are trailing from the first leg,
15:23we will be going out there playing our own game.
15:29We will always be playing our own game.
15:31And right from the outset, we'll be trying to go out there and win the game.