Luis Enrique: No team is a favourite in the PSG‑Arsenal final

Paris Saint‑Germain manager Luis Enrique said his side are not favourites to defend their Champions League title in Saturday’s final against Arsenal.

PSG, the Ligue 1 champions, have scored 44 goals in the competition, the most of any club, while Arsenal have conceded only six, the fewest in the tournament.

After a 5‑0 win over Inter Milan in last season’s final, which gave PSG their first trophy, Luis Enrique noted that finals are usually close contests and that match was an exception.

“Finals are always difficult games, last year was exceptional, we did dominate against Inter,” the Asturian coach said.

“In the final tomorrow I don’t think there’s a favourite and, I’m being honest with you, for us the devil is in the detail. It will be a very close call.”

“We will have to give our all for the 90 minutes but also enjoy them. There’s waves of tension but it’s also about knowing how to manage that stress.”

Enrique said the perceived clash of styles between the two teams is less pronounced than some observers suggest, despite the statistical differences.

“I’d say that rather than two different approaches, they are two similar approaches but with different tactics, because they are a team that also scores goals, and we are a team that also defends well, but we do so in different ways,” he added.

Arsenal have never won the Champions League, while PSG had not until their triumph last season.

“It’s powerful (motivation),” Luis Enrique said of Arsenal’s position. “But you know how powerful it is to try to win the second Champions League in a row? It’s bigger!”

Only Real Madrid, under Zinedine Zidane, have won the competition in consecutive seasons in the modern era.

If PSG win at the Puskás Aréna, Luis Enrique would become the fifth manager to lift the trophy three times, having done so with Barcelona in 2015 and PSG last season.

“It’s important to know how to handle a final – you never know when you’ll be back in one,” he remarked.

Enrique said European glory was the reason he joined the club and the main objective of PSG.

“That was my objective, the goal of the club, the goal of the sporting director, it was in the plan,” he said. “Maybe not as fast as we achieved it… we deserved to win the last Champions League, we were the better team.”

“It’s easier when you have the possibilities we have, as a coach, and the facilities of the club, and the level of the players that I have to achieve those goals.”

“At this moment we are thinking about the future — the future is winning tomorrow, another important trophy, and that’s the goal.”

Enrique confirmed that defenders Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are fit for the final, while forward Ousmane Dembélé has recovered from a calf injury.

AFP