MADRID, 6 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Paris Saint-Germain coach, Luis Enrique Martínez, was optimistic ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund, with a one-goal advantage in the tie, and confessed that “the only phrase” he knows in French is “‘on va a gagner'” (We are going to win), at the same time that he warned that they will have to be “100% concentrated” to advance to a final that “is played very rarely” in the career of a player or a coach.
“It’s the only phrase I know in French. ‘On va a gagner’ (we’re going to win), sorry for my Asturian accent,” he said at the press conference prior to Tuesday’s meeting at the Parc des Princes between the Gauls and Germans, who left their stadium with a 1-0 lead.
The coach applauded that his team faces the match with the “perfect mentality”, that is, “being prepared for things not to go well and to turn it around.” “That these situations do not affect you or affect you as little as possible, and that you are able to perform. We have been refereeing our players’ games all season from sporting injustice, that is, the ball goes out, it continues; there is a foul , continue. I don’t know what the referee is going to call, don’t complain, compete all year long, the team will fight,” he said.
“I know the game we are going to try to play and, from here on, the result will determine the opponent’s attitude. But our mentality is to play the game in the same way, regardless of whether we can turn it around during the game. The objective is to try to be better than the rival, generate more scoring chances and win the game,” analyzed Luis Enrique.
And the Asturian defended that they should not start the duel thinking that they have to “win by two goals”, because the objective is to “win”. “That is the first objective, because if you think that he has to score two goals, it is far away. You don’t have to score two, you have to score one and win the game,” he expressed.
“We have seen it in football, especially in this type of match, two goals are scored in three minutes, but you can also concede two goals in three minutes. That means you have to play with 100% concentration. It’s going to be a similar match. to the first leg, disputed, even, with two very good rivals,” he added.
And the loot is very valuable for Luis Enrique: being in the final on June 1 at Wembley. “Now our objective is clearly to reach a Champions League final, which is played very rarely in the career of a player or a coach, and before that, to be able to reach that final, you have to be better than a great team like Dortmund,” he commented.
And he tried to downplay the importance of an elimination in the Champions League semifinals, because “life goes on” and “the sun will rise.” “When the sun comes out in Paris it’s wonderful,” she joked. “If we don’t go to the final, we will applaud the rival, even if he doesn’t deserve it, we will congratulate him, we will wake up the next day screwed, but with pride, thinking that I will get up again and try again, and next year I will return to try to be in the final, that is the goal,” he predicted.
The Asturian confessed that “it has been a very good week” of training, with a final session “more of leisure, fun, relaxing, thinking about how lucky” they are “to be able to play in the Champions League semi-finals.” “And tomorrow will be the day of the party, the day to enjoy our fans and the day to compete,” he said.
“The role of the fans tomorrow is going to be vital, as throughout the season. We have full guarantee that our fans are going to be ‘full’ with us. If we look at the atmosphere that existed in the previous game in Dortmund , it was very nice, and tomorrow I expect the same atmosphere as always in the Parc des Princes,” he wished about the role of the fans.
Finally, he explained that he asks the forwards to “get as few balls back as possible”, based on a “very basic, very simple, but very didactic” approach. “We are all a team, and in an orchestra each one plays an instrument, well in football the same. The players, even if they are very good and world stars, have to help us defend,” he said about Mbappé’s role.
“Each match is totally different, it depends on where the opponent defends. There are times when an opponent is withdrawn in their field, but there is space between the lines and the players can participate inside. There are times when the rivals lock themselves in and you end up overflowing on the outside “There are rivals like Dortmund who are going to put high pressure on us for sure. The more our best players participate, the better,” he concluded.