1 hour ago
2
Luis Enrique will be eager to exact his revenge if Paris Saint-Germain are drawn against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League last-16
Luis Enrique has warned his players that they'll need to go back to the drawing board if they're drawn against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League last-16. Paris Saint-Germain clambered past Monaco in the play-offs to seal a place in the knockout stages of Europe's top-flight competition.
The holders drew 2-2 to their Ligue 1 rivals in the second leg on Wednesday night, waltzing away 5-4 victors in aggregate. Subject to a draw at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday, PSG will play Barcelona or the Blues in the round of 16.
In an interview with Movistar after the four-goal thriller against Monaco, Enrique weighed up whether he'd rather face the Spanish giants or Chelsea. As quoted by the Metro, he said: "Neither will be easy.
"Since it doesn’t depend on me, I’ll adapt to whatever comes. They are two incredible teams. Barca is very special to me and is already becoming a classic for me.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
"Like Manchester City and Real Madrid. Barcelona is a unique city, and the club is special. And if we get Chelsea, we’ll have a few things to work on."
The Blues humiliated PSG in the Club World Cup final last summer, beating Enrique's side 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Shortly after full-time, tensions boiled over, and Joao Pedro ended up on the deck following an altercation with Gianluigi Donnarumma and the Spaniard.
Enrique will be desperate to exact revenge on Chelsea. Speaking to reporters following the Monaco clash on Wednesday night, the PSG boss claimed his players are already acclimatised to high-pressure fixtures.
"We deserved this qualification, but it was difficult because for me the result was complicated; it was a tricky match," said Enrique. "There are moments when you lose precision, and it’s difficult to recover the level.
"We have to be happy with what we did, with having overcome this difficult moment. What I can say is that if there’s one team in the Champions League that played against the toughest group, it’s us.
"We’re used to playing against any team. Of course, we want to improve, but we faced a very high-level opponent. Chelsea or Barca would be tough, but if there’s one team that’s ready, it’s us."
Enrique featured 300 times for Barcelona as a player, winning La Liga in 1997/98 and 1998/99, the Copa del Rey in 1996/97 and 1997/98, the UEFA Super Cup in 1997/98, as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Supercopa de España in 1996/97.
In 2014, he was appointed head coach of the Catalan outfit and enjoyed just as much success. During a three-year spell in charge, Enrique won La Liga in 2014/15 and 2015/16, the Cope Del Rey in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17, the Champions League in 2014/15, the UEFA Super Cup in 2015/16, the Club World Cup in 2015/16, and the Supercopa de España in 2016/17.
Enrique continued: "We have to keep doing the same thing, we’re ready to play any team, in any competition. It’s been a unique season, we’ve had a lot of injured players.
"That’s not an excuse, but it’s important to have the whole squad available. There are three months of competition left, and we have the same mentality to go out and win."
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings
English (US) ·