MADRID, 17 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique Martínez did not hide the fact that “nobody expected to see” Girona in this edition of the Champions League, their first rival on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes and whose “matches” he watched last season where “they played great football.”
“I have to admit that nobody expected to see Girona here, it’s the first time for them, but I saw all their games last season and they played great football, they were even leaders,” Luis Enrique said on Tuesday in a press conference prior to the match.
The Asturian coach reiterated that the Catalan team plays “well” and that he is also “a great admirer” of their coach, Míchel. “Their work has been rewarded because tomorrow they will be able to play in the Champions League in a legendary stadium. I wish them the best, except against us, of course,” he added.
“We prepare our matches based on ourselves. We imagine how our opponents will want to adapt to our game and Girona will surely want to take the ball from us, but we have prepared this match like all the others, concentrating on our strengths,” explained the Parisian team’s coach.
Regarding the new format of the top continental competition, Luis Enrique acknowledged the toughness of the schedule, with rivals such as Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. “It’s obvious that we don’t have the same schedule as the other teams that have a chance of winning the title, but we don’t want to hide behind that, we know what we have to do to continue progressing and go as far as possible in the competition,” he warned.
“There is no doubt that the schedule with this new format is more loaded, we have two more matches, but we are going to analyse the competition and see how each player performs. It is a very high-level competition and we know that the matches are all going to be difficult to play,” stressed the player from Gijón.