“Blessed be the pressure”: Luis Enrique’s Paris SG launches an assault on the “Yellow Wall” on Wednesday for the first leg of its Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund (9:00 p.m.), with the line-up is aiming for the final at Wembley.
To prepare for the match, the Spanish coach worked, as in previous rounds, to defuse the pressure and stress which had penalized the club so much in previous years in the Champions League.
“We must not see pressure as a threat”, “blessed be the pressure”, he professed on Tuesday at a press conference at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund. Before asking his players to take advantage: “We are arriving at the perfect time of the season.”
This “perfect moment” is the prospect of a historic championship-Coupe de France-C1 treble. The first is acquired and if the Cup is an objective of the season (PSG will face Lyon in the final on May 25), it is above all the European title, never won before, which focuses the attention of the club, its fans and of its star Kylian Mbappé.
PSG coach Luis Enrique, April 30, 2024 in Dortmund / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
The Frenchman wants to leave the club in style this summer and, with this competition and Euro-2024, perfect his season with a view to the Ballon d’Or.
The German coach “Terzic is looking for the anti-Mbappé plan”, explains the Bild newspaper.
The C1 seems all the more possible this year as PSG is in excellent momentum and has managed to take advantage of a draw open since the round of 16: Real Sociedad then FC Barcelona, which is no longer Barça a few years ago.
Final favor of destiny: this confrontation against Borussia Dortmund – currently 5th in the Bundesliga after a disaster this weekend against Leipzig (4-1) – which PSG mastered in the group stage at the start of its European campaign (2-0 in September at the Parc des Princes; 1-1 on the return in December) as he did in the round of 16 in 2020 (2-0, 2-1).
At Borussia, “reaching the semi-finals is already the biggest international success since 2013” estimates the German media Kicker.
“A family”
Luis Enrique also prides himself on an improvement in his team “in all aspects”, and in particular that of emotional management, crucial to lifting the cup with big ears. “We were able to overcome numerical inferiorities (like in Marseille on March 31), come back at the last minute (like against Le Havre last Saturday)… but the dividing line between victory and defeat in this competition is very fine. .”
Ligue des champions: Borussia Dortmund’s presentation – Paris SG / Guillermo RIVAS PACHECO, Aníbal Maíz Cáceres / AFP
In summary, “my team is courageous”, he praised, also referring to the qualification acquired in Barcelona on April 16 (4-1 after losing 3-2 at the Parc).
Another positive point compared to previous years: the infirmary list is very short, apart from the long-term absences of Presnel Kimpembe and Sergio Rico.
While Luis Enrique should field the same team as in the quarter-final return against FC Barcelona, doubts remain regarding left back Nuno Mendes, who has been preserved in recent weeks.
If the one who will face the speed of Karim Adeyemi or Jadon Sancho is not 100%, the Brazilian Lucas Beraldo or Lucas Hernandez could replace him.
The Spanish coach of PSG can therefore count on the form of almost all of his players, who say they get along on and off the field, as rarely before in the capital.
The last training session before the match, Tuesday evening at the stadium, was another opportunity for exercises punctuated by laughter and hugs.
Kylian Mbappé (left) and Gianluigi Donnarumma all smiles in training, April 30, 2024 in Dortmund / FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives
“We are more of a team. We have had more time to work. We know each other well. We added a lot of players and now we are a family,” Portuguese center forward Gonçalo Ramos said on Tuesday.
According to him, PSG, which will be supported by some 4,000 supporters, “has done a very good job this season, we are ready”. “The players know what they have to do”, as they will face the “Yellow Wall” and its 25,000 fans in Signal Iduna Park where a total of 81,365 spectators are expected.
If the Parisian leaders have not officially made the Champions League their “obsession”, seeing the final at Wembley escape them would necessarily be a disappointment against the BVB of veteran defender Mats Hummels (35 years old), well within the reach of PSG .
