MANCHESTER, England — Luis Enrique said Paris Saint-Germain “could have lost” their Champions League match Manchester City after racing out to a 3-0 lead at halftime at the Etihad on Wednesday.
PSG went on to win 4-2 after a dominant first half — and hit the post and missed a penalty in a second half — as City fought back after the break through two goals from Erling Haaland.
Although his side ended up comfortable winners, the PSG coach said his team’s early lead didn’t help PSG.
“How proud am I? It’s hard to say because the match had very different moments,” Luis Enrique said. “In the first half, we showed what we want to do as a team, but I don’t like going into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
“Most think the game is won, but it’s never the case and even with less luck, we can lose this kind of game. We suffered a lot in the second half, they deserved to score more goals. With a bit of bad luck, we could have lost this match”
The former Barcelona coach added that PSG only want to be the best team “at the end of the season” as the back-to-back Champions League winners look ahead a clash with his former team that will feature the top clubs in the League Phase table so far.
The French champions face second-placed Barcelona at Parc des Princes next Tuesday, but despite beating City and having the chance to beat the Spanish champions, the PSG coach said the most important factor is being the best in May, not October.
“PSG vs. Barça next? Being the best team at this stage of the season is not the most important thing,” Luis Enrique said. “The most important thing is to be the best team at the end of the season.”
PSG are aiming to emulate Real Madrid by winning a third successive Champions League this season.
Luis Enrique’s opposite number for PSG’s next Champions League test, Hansi Flick, said nearly the same after Barcelona rolled to a 4-1 win over Galatasaray on Tuesday to extend his team’s perfect start to the season to 10 games across competitions.
“Football can change very fast,” Flick said Tuesday when asked if Barça are unstoppable. “We are proud about this situation. We are happy and we have not just the confidence, but also the conviction in our style, how we want to play.
“But our ambitions are more; we want to win titles. We can win nothing now. In May, June you win the big titles. We are working every day for that.”
