Paris Saint-Germain was disenchanted by FC Bayern in the Champions League. Afterward, coach Luis Enrique admitted the superiority of the German record champions—and mistakes regarding Ousmane Dembelé.
PSG fought, scratched, and bit – but in the end, FC Bayern secured their 16th competitive win of the season. After the 2-1 defeat, with two halves that could hardly have been more different, Luis Enrique had to prepare himself for critical questions.
When confronted with the fact that the Bayern players had emphasized their superiority after the game, Luis Enrique did not want to contradict them at first. “Of course they were superior in the first half and had more chances,” said the Spaniard at the press conference, adding: “We gave them some nice gifts, and when you give gifts to players like that, it’s normal to lose the first half. They could have scored even more goals.”
Luis Enrique wasn’t the only one who saw a “completely different” second half. With a man advantage, his team “did well, created a lot of chances, but it’s difficult to attack against a team with ten players behind the ball.” However, the PSG coach did not want to answer the question of whether a draw would have been “fair.”
A small challenge
But where did Bayern’s superiority in the eleven-on-eleven actually come from? “I can’t remember a game this season where we played with a full team in top form,” Luis Enrique interjected: “It’s a different season, you have to be able to deal with that. I’m not looking for excuses, it’s our responsibility to get better, but you have to accept it.”
But no one in Paris needs to panic. “I’m calm because I know we’ll get through this,” said the 55-year-old: “I’m waiting for the team and the players to recover over the course of the season so that we can get back to our best. The competition has only just begun.”
He also issued a small challenge: “What matters is what the standings look like in March, April, and May. Then we’ll see where we stand.” A rematch with Bayern is certainly a possibility.
“I expected a better performance from us”
Luis Enrique did not see Bayern decode PSG’s code. “When you make mistakes at this level, you concede a goal like that and the game is over,” said Luis Enrique, obviously referring to Marquinhos’ mistake before the 0-2.
The Brazilian was only back in the Paris starting lineup for the second time after an injury break, and his lack of competitive practice and speed of action were clearly noticeable. The evening was even worse for Ousmane Dembelé. The Ballon d’Or winner, who had been out with injury for even longer, was somewhat surprisingly in the starting lineup, but had to be substituted shortly after his disallowed goal due to a new injury. Luis Enrique was self-critical in this regard: “I expected a better game from us, but when you bring back injured players, they are not 100 percent fit. That’s something I should have handled much better with my experience.”
