Enrique de Lucas (Hospitalet, 1978) did not stop moving between the end of the 90s of the last century and well into the second of the new 21st century. Espanyol youth squad, his first international experience was enjoyed at PSG, at that time a much smaller team, although with stars in his squad, such as Anelka or Ronaldinho. He attends the call from AS from London to remember that 2000-01 academic year and to analyze the game this Tuesday at the Parc des Princes, between him and Real Madrid.
What does he do for London? What do you do now?
Watching football and working a little. I have an agency here in England, Leaders Sports Management, we take English players and also Spanish ones (among them, Hugo Mallo, from Celta), above all. I move a lot between England, Andorra and Spain. We intermediate a lot in England, with Spanish and Italian players above all.
You know well what it is like to go to another country to play. On his day he was loaned for a course (2000-01) by Espanyol to PSG, Madrid’s next rival. How do you remember that?
With love. It is true that I played little, but at the level of personal and football experience it was incredible. There I also met ‘Mauri’ Pochettino, with Mikel Arteta… It was sensational. It was difficult for me to adapt, naturally, it was the first time I left Spain, practically the first time I left my house. And to an unstructured team, with many internal complications, but in which it was seen coming that they were going to make the change.
Unstructured?
Look, that winter Ronaldinho signed for PSG, but he couldn’t play until the start of the following season due to a contractual issue, a problem with Gremio, and the president was also going through a lot of problems. Canal+, which was the owner of the club at the time, also had problems and was already looking for solutions and investors to release the club. But until Qatar arrived, the club did not make the change it has made over the years.
So he was able to train with the first Ronaldinho, still unknown.
Training was a lot of fun with him. He came to Europe with great enthusiasm and knew that PSG was a bridge club for him, he knew that he was going to end up in one of the greats and that’s how it was. It was so worth it.
Another who was his teammate there was Anelka, who had disappointed in Madrid.
It surprised me, as a player and as a person. It had to be understood, he was a very young boy at that time, his impact in Madrid was very great and he was also in France, wherever we went in Paris Nico had to go practically hidden. He knew what he represented, but at Madrid he had many problems adapting and that was also a complicated dressing room, for a young boy from outside. He was somewhat distrustful, he only gave that trust to whom he really saw that he deserved it, and in Madrid it seems that this was something that he had a hard time accepting. But once he opens up, he’s an exceptional guy. He is worth knowing. I arrived from Spain and I trusted what I saw, and what they told me. All in all, his career was incredible, and he could be even better. He could have won a Ballon d’Or.
De Lucas, after scoring a goal with Espanyol against Barcelona.
Jordi Alemany.
Was Pochettino seen as he was going to become a coach?
I don’t know so much, but it was clear that he was already preparing for the future. I’ve met a lot with him, he was already a veteran of Espanyol and then, as an agent and him as a coach, we’ve talked about a player on occasion. We have a very respectful relationship, there is mutual admiration.
In Paris it seems that they are constantly moving his chair…
In the end he is in a very big team, in which there is always a lot of talk, blame is sought when there are defeats. It’s complicated. But I think he’s doing well, he’s adapting and he’s clear on how to make a champion team. At Espanyol he did quite well, given the circumstances. Above all, he is a coach who knows how to adapt very well, knows the player well and for him it is the perfect opportunity to become European champion.
Returning to PSG: what it was before and what it is now. It was strange that a great European capital like Paris did not have a team to match.
It has nothing to do with it. It was already big by then, eh, I remember that when we were in the Champions League we were already traveling in huge planes, but now it is in another dimension. I think that the Parc des Princes is too small for them, if there were twice as many seats they would fill them for sure. In the end, the problem is that it goes very hand in hand with the league and France is a country in which rugby is also very important, football had a hard time getting into it. But they are growing, they are in it, not only PSG; also Marseille, Lyon, Lille…
Was your PSG more authentic, did it have more soul?
There was a lot of French player, much more than now. He was a much more native PSG, now he is much more international. And the players are all top notch.
From Lucas, with Espanyol.
Jordi Alemany.
So did PSG already have such a radical fan base?
It was worse actually, because it was so much more out of control. We lost a Cup match at home against Guingamp, 0-4, and we spent two and a half hours in the locker room without being able to leave. There is a faction within the hobby that is quite complicated. It happens a lot in France, there are many young radical groups that go to football for everything except to watch it. They have to get on with it now, it’s a social problem.
Now leaving Spain to play in another league is more normalized, at the time it was not so common. What was it like to be a foreigner in that locker room?
Luckily, the coach was Luis Fernández (French born in Tarifa, Cádiz), who had been in Spain, and there were people who spoke Spanish. It was novel, that they signed people from outside, from Spain; it was usually the other way around. But personally they treated me very well, everyone; the treatment was exquisite. There was competition to play, but I wouldn’t say there were groups based on nationality, quite the opposite. Perhaps there were other issues that made groups and rivalries more tricky. There were Jews, Muslims, Christians… In the end there is a clash of customs and they are surprising, but you have to understand and respect them.
Looking at the game, how do you see it?
Well, pretty even. Madrid may be the favorite for history, but PSG is a team on the rise and eager to win this championship. It’s not geared up as a big team yet, but it has players to beat anyone. You give Madrid a favorite because of their history with the competition, if you look player by player, they are there. It is true that Madrid perhaps has more packaging as a block.
And if Madrid lacks Benzema?
If Benzema is missing, the equation is another, without a doubt. Without him, Madrid is another, much more vulnerable and with much less bite.
Let’s see how much love he has for PSG: Mbappé to Madrid, yes or no?
(Serie). Man, that Mbappé is going to end up in Madrid is something that there is little doubt about now, right? There is also no doubt that I love my PSG very much. But everyone knows that he wants to play for Madrid and Madrid wants him to play there. It’s all written.
Is Ligue1 a small thing for him?
What he wants is to enlarge his legend, and clearly LaLiga and Madrid have much more impact than Ligue1 and PSG. Everything comes together, he wants to grow and Madrid wants to grow with him. The combination is perfect.