Trailing 2-0 with five minutes left, PSG snatched the European Super Cup on penalties against Tottenham. Lucid despite the victory, Luis Enrique felt that Spurs deserved the trophy more.
In Udine, on Wednesday evening, PSG wrote an unexpected chapter in their European history. Despite a cruel lack of physical condition, the Parisians, winners of the last Champions League, overturned a UEFA Super Cup final that seemed destined to escape them. Trailing 2-0 with five minutes remaining, they found the strength to come back through energy and pride, before winning on penalties thanks to a decisive save from Lucas Chevalier and a winning penalty from Nuno Mendes.
A scenario that surprised even Luis Enrique, who appeared exhausted at the press conference, but who has not lost his objectivity: the Spanish coach stated that Spurs deserved the victory more.
When asked about the possibility of such a comeback, he said: “I am so tired that I don’t know if I can speak French correctly. To be honest, I think we don’t deserve this trophy. Tonight we saw the difference between a team like Tottenham, who have been training for six weeks, and us, who had only 6 days of work behind us. There was such a difference for 80 minutes… We tried to play our football but we made a lot of misplaced passes. But we had the luck to score two goals and go to penalties. But that’s football. I am very happy for our supporters who are always there for us, who sing and help the team, all the time. We were losing the match and despite that, they were still behind us.”
When asked if, despite the lack of fitness, his team had shown other qualities, he replied: “I repeat, tonight’s match was very strange. It’s normal that there is this difference between the two teams. To play a good match, you need to have physical condition but also technical condition. Today we saw our lack of technique. It reminds me of when I was a player and I came back from holiday, I wondered how to do it. Tottenham deserved much more than us.”
Did he stop believing in his players during the match? The Spaniard denied it: “I never stop believing in my players. They stopped pressing around the 80th minute, and for us, that was a good moment because those who came off the bench, Kang-in, Goncalo, Fabian, Ibrahim (Mbaye) brought a lot. All those who played and all those who came on were very brave, and I am very happy with their performances.”
Luis Enrique also wanted to praise the performance of his new goalkeeper: “I am very happy with the way he finished the match. He showed character and personality, which is what we ask for to help the team. I am very happy with his performance, and also with Safonov’s presence. We are on this path, we are looking to improve, and I think we will be better this season. His first match was difficult for him, but he showed the character we need to be a player at PSG.”
And he concluded on this new victory against an English club: “One of the keys last season was being convinced that we can win every match. Tottenham were better than us for the first 85 minutes. Football turned in our favour, but it’s a bit unfair.”