El Paris Saint-Germain coach, Luis Enrique Martínez, stated that his players do not have «excessive confidence» for the game, on Tuesday, behind the Champions League quarter-finals against Aston Villa, and that they do not believe in «speculating» with a 3-1 lead in the first leg and said they are «among the best teams in Europe.»
«Throughout the ‘Champions’ days, there have been statistical data that spoke very well about our team, and I sent them to my players. It may not be the number of points or goals, in which I was very poor in the early weeks of the Champions League, but I think the baggage of what the teams did was very interesting. From the start, Paris Saint-Germain has been one of the best teams in Europe.
In this sense, he explained that «in terms of ball possession and chances created» they are «among the best teams in Europe.» «What happens is that the ranking has not reflected the same numbers. At this moment, once we have regained normality and effectiveness, we are clearly among the best teams in the competition, and our desire is to continue improving where possible,» he said.
Despite the triumph in the first leg, the Spanish coach said that the team’s intention is to «try to solve the problems presented by Aston Villa and win the game» and denied that there is an excess of confidence. «Throughout all the seasons, there are always different scenarios in teams, from the maximum pessimism that I managed to experience here at the beginning of this season to the excess of motivation or joy at this moment. One of the keys of this team is the maturity it has, despite being young and forgetting about football and what cannot be found.
«It is when you consider teams favorites before playing. The path eliminated with your favorite teams is full. I played the first game, I believe I was superior to Aston Villa and deserved this result, but that is a story that has already ended. The next story is the second game, everything is open. We have an advantage, but it will not happen.
On the other hand, the Asturians revealed that they have repeated sanctions. «It is logical to prepare all scenarios and because we have done so. In fact, tomorrow at the moment the game ends, there will only be one team in the semifinals, the other will be eliminated. There are interesting competitions because there is nothing to lose. Aston Villa is behind on the scoreboard, there is excellent motivation to make the game interesting.»
In another context, he speculated on why the strategy could bet on ONUI Emery to try to maintain equality. «I believe that tomorrow, clearly, his defensive intention will be to defend much higher, with what that implies. If successful, you can recover the ball near the goal, but that entails many risks. It is obvious that the second game will be there,» he said.
«There are games with much more uncertainty and impossible to predict what will happen, because it will depend on how we overcome those actions and how it works. I believe the game will have very intense and interesting moments. The game will have very intense and very important moments,» he added.
He also emphasized how «beautiful» it will be to play at the Villas Park, «a stadium with tradition.» «Our players and team are already used to playing in high-stakes scenarios. We hope we can see an interesting football night where you can enjoy a wonderful game. I don’t think it will be a problem, it is a motivation for us,» he said.
He also spoke about the criticism raised initially due to his decision to change Ousmane Dembélé’s position. «You asked him. And he answered, didn’t he? I was clear when I saw that the whole press was against my decision. I said ‘Well, I’m on the right track,’ jokingly.
Finally, Luis Enrique shied away from the praise towards Fabián Ruiz. «I know Fabian very well, I had him in the national team. One of the things I like most about Fabian is that he is one of the few players capable of playing based on what his teammates do: occupying a series of spaces, compensating for a series of situations that arise on our field… there are not many players who are not just what to do, what to do, what to do.»
