Luis Enrique before Dortmund-PSG: “We must not see pressure as a threat”

The pressure before Dortmund and more generally at PSG: “It will be a disappointment for all four teams in the event of elimination, no more for us than the others. (…) The pressure is what everyone wants to put on. For my part, I'm delighted to be in this situation, but at PSG, everything is subject to pressure. If you can't manage this pressure as a player, staff member, manager or doctor... There is always pressure in this type of club. I am lucky enough to benefit from this kind of situation, others adapt, certain names. But this pressure is blessed. It’s always good to be in the Champions League semi-finals and I hope I’ll always be there.”

PSG favorite against Dortmund: “That’s why I’ve been saying for a long time that the press knows almost nothing about football (laughs). I'm sorry (smile). The beautiful thing is to enjoy a special match in a unique stadium and to offer enormous joy to our supporters by reaching the final.

Matches closed because of the stakes... or not: “It will be a match quite similar to the quarter-finals in that sense. It is not our habit to speculate. It's the same for Dortmund. We will try to win this match with our football. It will be a good show for those who love football and I believe there will be goals.”

The prospect of playing in the final: “Since my arrival, I have felt the support of the club, of the players. We are in a process of improvement, we are only at the beginning of the project. We progressed throughout the season. There is a month left and we are still alive in all competitions, we can win all four. The competition par excellence in Europe is coming. All four teams can hope to play in the final. We must try to manage the pressure, our emotions and be ambitious. Pressure should not be seen as a threat. We are arriving at a perfect time of the season.”

Progress since December and the last match in Dortmund (1-1): “In what areas? In all ! There are only two players unavailable for this match. We have improved in attack, in defense... But we can still improve. This is one of the characteristics of our way of managing a club and a team, you have to be demanding. Everything has to be done. We overcame moments when we were outnumbered, we came back to the score in the last minutes... We progressed in all areas. But the line that separates victory from defeat in this type of competition is fine.

PSG are feverish away in the group stage: “Throughout the season, there are different moments. We are always in this process of learning and improvement, we always have to learn. We are ready to play two big matches (against Dortmund), the objective is to win.

Also read: PSG: Regularity, efficiency, reliability… Dembélé, the age of reason

Borussia's successful header, unlike Paris: “Each team has its weaknesses. But I usually think and believe that my team and my players are the best. Yes, we have weak points, but we are working on them. We are not perfect. Our goal is to play the game we are best at. In football, everything goes through the ball. We will try to dominate the ball and win.”

Barcelona's victory in the form of liberation: “I hope so... We had achieved something that had not been done before (no French club had qualified after losing the first leg at home, Editor’s note). But my experience tells me that it is tomorrow (Wednesday) that we will have to be competitive. You know, we didn't manage to win on the road during the group stage, and we did it in the 8th round (in San Sebastian) and in the quarter-finals (in Barcelona). History is good, but it may or may not repeat itself. Our goal is to win tomorrow. I have a courageous team.”

The youngest squad of the four semi-finalists: “It seems funny to me... If we lose, it's because we're young, and if we win, it would be luck, as if we had played Lotto ? Age is not important. Let's take the example of cycling, a discipline where there are more and more young people. It's the same thing when it comes to football. I believe that young people are ready. I don't like it when people criticize young people. They are ready. I have never made a starting 11 thinking about the age of the players, whether in the World Cup or the Champions League. I don't think about the age of the players but about their maturity, their way of training. Whether they are 55 or 16 is not important to me. You can win with young players as well as older players. It does not matter. In any case, it’s good for the future to have such a young squad.”

Vitinha: “He’s having an incredible season, he’s up to par with the best midfielders in the world. He can play on one side, inside or in 6. He is very important. And the 6 will somewhat indicate how we are going to play. He can also score goals. There is another aspect in which he has progressed a lot, and I believe it is a little thanks to me, it is on the defensive level. He takes players to mark, we never go behind his back. He’s one of the best players on our team.”

Comments collected at a press conference