Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League night against Manchester City turned from a first-half statement into a second-half survival test, with Luis Enrique warning that a 3-0 interval lead offered no guarantee at this level.
The PSG coach said his side had delivered the football they want to represent before the break, overwhelming City during the opening 45 minutes. But he felt the contest became far more dangerous after the restart as the English side found a response.
Quick facts
- PSG led Manchester City 3-0 at half-time.
- Luis Enrique said PSG were clearly the stronger side in the first half.
- He admitted City deserved further goals after the interval.
- The coach defended Ousmane Dembélé against criticism.
- PSG’s next meeting is against Barcelona.
“In the first half we showed what we want to be as a team against a good Manchester City,” Luis Enrique said. “I think we were much better.”
Yet the Spaniard said he does not enjoy taking a three-goal advantage into the dressing room, because it can create the wrong sense of security. In a match of such stature, he insisted, the result is never settled simply because of the score at half-time.
City’s revival left PSG under pressure and forced them to hold on. Luis Enrique conceded that the visitors had earned more goals from their second-half display and said misfortune could even have turned the game against his team.
“With a little bad luck, we could have lost this match,” he said, underlining how sharply the balance shifted after PSG’s dominant opening period.
Luis Enrique also pushed back when Ousmane Dembélé was raised after criticism of the forward. “Ousmane is Ousmane,” he said, arguing that the negative talk had come from journalists rather than from within PSG.
Attention now moves to Barcelona, but the PSG manager would not be drawn into declaring which clubs currently stand above the rest in Europe. For him, the decisive measure will come later in the campaign.
“It is not important to be the best team now,” Luis Enrique said. “What matters is being the best team at the end of the season.”
