Enrique wants PSG ambition to overcome Barca pressure

Paris — Paris St Germain are still seeking their first Champions League trophy but they need ambition rather than pressure in the first leg of their quarterfinal against Barcelona, manager Luis Enrique says.

PSG last reached the semifinal stage in 2021, and with the Ligue 1 title more or less wrapped up along with a place in the Coupe de France final, focus now turns to the competition which the club wants to win more than any other.

“I hope our ambition overcomes the pressure,” Enrique said before Wednesday’s game. “We aren’t feeling pressure at the moment, we are very excited to play at this level and we are trying to qualify for the next round. During the group stage I could see that the players were taking responsibility, and now that has got us here.”

Enrique has already won the Champions League when managing Barcelona, a club where he also spent eight seasons as a player, but he doesn’t see his knowledge of the club or their manager Xavi Hernández as an advantage.

“I don’t know Xavi at all as a coach. I know about him as a player, he was my teammate,” Enrique said. “I know the club very well, I know Barcelona and the players but I don’t know if that could be an advantage, maybe it could be the opposite.

“It’s an important team for me on an emotional level because of my experiences there. But this is a job and I need to be professional.”

The PSG manager’s dislike of questions regarding Kylian Mbappe continued, when he was asked about the French forward’s mindset before the game, having been rested recently.

“I think you are asking about one player but I want to talk about the team because I think that’s more interesting,” he said. “We are in a good situation this season. The mindset is very strong collectively.”

Security will be reinforced for the game at Parc des Princes, after what the interior minister for France Gerald Darmanin called a “clear threat publicly mentioned by the Islamic State that particularly targets stadiums”.

“I think everyone is worried about terrorist threats. I hope it can be controlled,” Enrique said. “And I hope it’s just a threat.”

At the same time Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone said his side must prove they are worthy of being among Europe’s top-eight teams as they prepare to host Borussia Dortmund.

Atletico, who are all but out of the LaLiga title race in fourth place a full 17 points behind leaders Real Madrid, have won only three of their last eight games in all competitions. They needed a penalty shoot-out to edge past last year's finalists Inter Milan and reach the quarters this year after their last-16 clash ended 2-2 on aggregate.

“We just need to go out there and show what it takes to stay in this competition,” Simeone said. “Dortmund is probably the team who plays with the most intensity among those who qualified for the quarterfinals. We need to play an important game and we need our people to be pushing us as always.” 

Reuters