His body asked him to run away with happiness when the referee blew the final whistle, but Luis Enrique stopped at the last moment. The PSG coach recalled his past at Barça and his Barcelona feeling before giving free rein to his joy on the Montjuïc pitch after sealing his place in the Champions League semi-finals. “It has been very difficult emotionally to face Barça. I hope not to play against Barça again,” the Asturian explained later, more calmly, who defined Xavi as “the ideal coach” for the Blaugrana.
“We have started brilliantly. We were prepared for any scenario. A very complete match,” she analyzed. With PSG accustomed to suffering more painful defeats in the Champions League than successes, Luis Enrique highlighted that this time the French champion took “a step forward in maturity.”
The man from Gijón pointed out that he did not see the expulsion of Araújo and predicted a “very open semi-final” with Dortmund, who was already his rival in the group stage with a balance of a draw in Germany (1-1) and a French victory in Paris (2-0). “Mbappé has been the undisputed leader in pressing, where he normally does not stand out. Chapeau. He leads by example. When he is able to convey that, we are much better”, he concluded about the Bondy star.
However, the Asturian owes a large part of the classification to Ousmane Dembélé, MVP of the match after scoring the first goal for the French in Barcelona and forcing the penalty for the third, in addition to scoring a great goal in the first leg in Paris.
“It was a very difficult game. The team has been very good and focused. We deserved to win,” said the former Blaugrana player, especially cheered by the Barcelona parish. “It's football. Nothing happens, there are whistles in all the stadiums,” said the winger, who defined Barça as “a great club” although highlighting that now he is “happy in Paris.”
