The coach of Paris SG, Luis Enrique Martínez, was clear this Tuesday, in the run-up to the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Barcelona, when asked who best represents the Barça club’s playing philosophy: “I “I represent Barça’s style better” than its current coach, Xavi Hernández.
«The possession of the ball, the goals, the pressure, the titles, the trophies. “I represent Barça better, although some think differently,” he declared at a press conference when compared to his counterpart on the Barça bench.
“I don’t know Xavi as a coach, but as a player,” added the former Barça player (1996-2004) and then coach (2014-2017), a period in which he coincided with the current Barça coach.
Due to his past in Barcelona, Luis Enrique pointed out: «I know the club very well, but I don’t know if it will be an advantage. “It will be a great experience on an emotional level.”
«It is a different game for me. I also faced Barça with Sporting (from Gijón, their training club) and scored goals against them. In the end you are a professional. It is evident that I have a total love relationship with Barça but I am convinced that I can give Paris titles,” added the Asturian coach.
Regarding the favoritism of the tie, Luis Enrique downplayed this fact: «Some will think one thing; others another, but it is not important. “I prefer to think that we are not favorites and that you think that we are victims.”
«No one can think that Barça is weak, it is a strong Barça. They have a good offensive dynamic and very good players; a club with a lot of experience and that has already won five Champions Leagues,” he recalled.
Precisely, the European title is the great obsession of Paris SG, especially since it is owned by a Qatari group (2011): «I hope that ambition overcomes pressure, we have no pressure. From the beginning I said that I saw an excess of responsibility and that has disappeared and there is enthusiasm and excessive ambition and there is a great desire to play against a great Barça,” concluded the Spanish coach.