PSG’s Luis Enrique on Atlético Madrid’s late winner: “It was a joke in bad taste”

In the wake of his Paris Saint-Germain team’s second defeat in the Champions League this season – one that leaves them outside of the play-off places – Luis Enrique provided a frank assessment of the Ligue 1 leaders’ results in Europe.

In his post-match press conference – attended by GFFN – the Asturian coach was first asked about whether Les Parisiens risked crashing out of the Champions League altogether as early as January – “without a doubt”, the Spaniard responded.

The Spaniard highlighted his team’s dominance going forward – in tonight’s match, but also in their other home games against continental opponents this year – and pointed to a lack of luck on his team’s part in failing to convert their chances – “what’s happened to us is unexplainable and unjust”.

“It’s difficult to explain this kind of run – the fact that we have four points even though we’ve been better than our rivals. We’ll analyse it tomorrow – we have four difficult games to go, but we’ll give it a go. It was quite “funny” to see how we conceded that [Correa] goal, it was a bit of a “joke” – we need 20 clear chances to score a goal, while our opponent sneezes and manages to score. That’s the dynamic of the games. But we need to get back up and try again.”

“The goal was a “joke” in bad taste, it hurt us a lot given that our opponent hadn’t done much, and we had that second goal all set up. We have four games to go, and we’ll keep on trying until the end. If we don’t manage [to qualify] then the necessary measures will be taken. But my faith in my players is unshakeable – they do what I tell them to, and at the Parc des Princes none of our supporters ever gives in – as is the case for us.”

“But given the run we’re on, I can’t guarantee that we will qualify.”

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin  – reporting from the Parc des Princes