Botafogo pulled off a surprise and narrowly defeated reigning European champions PSG. After the game, Luis Enrique praised their opponents, who he said “defended them the best”. Even so, he believes it was not an attitude, but one of finesse.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said on Thursday that the defeat against Botafogo has been “a morale booster” for their opponents and that it is time to prepare the team for a very open group stage final of the Club World Cup.
The Brazilian team “has been the team that has defended us best all season”, said the coach in a press conference at the end of the second group stage match, which ended in a 1-0 win for the Brazilians.
The Brazilian goal “was a morale booster for them. And I repeat, I think they defended very well. We, on the other hand, didn’t create the chances we usually do,” he added.
Although ‘nobody can know what’s going to happen’ in a final that looks to be wide open for this group, which also includes Atletico Madrid, “it’s a good idea to prepare for the third game as we’ve done the previous ones, but the difficulty is going to be there”, he added.
“If there is a team that is capable of turning the situation around, it is ours. We have to evaluate the game, analyse it, show where we can improve. I think that in terms of attitude and behaviour my team was very good, we weren’t sharp and against an opponent that defends like they did today it was difficult for us”, he acknowledged.