Spaniard Luis Enrique, coach of Paris Saint-Germain, expressed his surprise at his team's loss to its guest Monaco, 1-2, on Friday evening, in the French Football League.
Saint-Germain failed again to achieve its first victory in the competition this season, while Monaco achieved its third victory in a row.
Paris Saint-Germain took the lead with a goal through its Brazilian defender Marquinhos in the 31st minute, Monaco equalized with Portuguese Flavio Nazionho in the 58th minute, then Belgian Stanis Mozambo scored the winning goal in the 72nd minute.
Monaco was alone at the top with nine points, the full mark, from three consecutive victories, while Saint-Germain's balance stopped at two points in twelfth place.
Saint-Germain began the title defense campaign with a 2-2 draw with Rennes, then tied with Lille with the same score in the second round.
“I have the same feeling as our fans,” Enrique said after the match. We tried to control the match against a strong team like Monaco, but they started the match with great ability to overcome our pressure, and the first minutes were difficult. However, I think we clearly deserved to win. We would have felt unlucky even if the match had ended in a draw, but we lost. "It is inexplicable, but this is football, and we have to accept that."
The Spanish coach added that Paris Saint-Germain needs to develop, not only on the collective level but also on the individual level, stressing that he bears part of the responsibility for that. He explained: “I am happy with the players, but we have to improve individually and collectively, and this also includes me as a coach, because we are facing difficulties in the league standings.”
Despite the faltering start, Enrique affirmed his continued enthusiasm and confidence in the Paris Saint-Germain project, noting that the current season represents the first time he has started his fourth season with the same team.
Saint-Germain's official website quoted Enrique as saying: “We are part of an exciting project. This is my first time starting my fourth season as coach of the same team. My motivation is stronger now than it was in the first days here. “The trust of the president and the board of directors is important to me, and I am still very excited and happy, and I hope to stay here in Paris for a very long time.”
For his part, Joao Neves expressed his disappointment with the loss, especially since it came in his 100th match for Paris Saint-Germain. He said: “It was a very difficult match. This was my 100th match with Paris Saint-Germain, but unfortunately we were unable to win. “As I always say, the team is more important than any individual, so I cannot be happy today.”
The Portuguese player added: “I am proud of the way we played, but Monaco is a strong team with a lot of quality. We tried to focus on our playing style and we succeeded, but we were unable to score more goals.”
Neves praised the Paris Saint-Germain fans, explaining: “Since I joined the club, I do not remember a single match in which our fans did not attend. They're amazing, the best fans I've ever seen. “It is sad that they came to support us and we were not able to win for them.”
The European Football Association (UEFA) decided to ban Matteo Guendouzi, the Turkish player from Fenerbahce, for two matches in the Champions League due to his provocations and insults during and after the exciting match at the French Olympique Lyon stadium in the preliminary round of the continental championship.
Guendouzi, a former Arsenal and Marseille player, was at the heart of the events that took place in the match in which Fenerbahce won 2-1 on August 26, a result that led the Turkish team to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 18 years, before events escalated into mass clashes after the match.
Guendouzi, 27 years old, will miss Fenerbahce's first two matches in the Champions League, against its Italian guest, Roma, next Thursday, and then against its English host, Aston Villa, on October 14.
UEFA also imposed a fine of 50,000 euros ($58,000) on Guendouzi, after convicting him of violating the rules of appropriate behavior, insulting players or people attending the match, and provoking the fans.
Guendouzi raised his middle finger in the face of Lyon fans during the warm-up and after the match, before he entered into other controversial scenes after the end of the match. The player later said that Lyon fans insulted members of his family before and during the match.
UEFA also imposed a one-match suspension on Mason Greenwood, the Fenerbahce striker, due to his participation in the events, and fined him 30,000 euros ($35,000) after convicting him of violating the rules of appropriate conduct.
On the other hand, UEFA suspended Antonio Ferreira, Lyon’s goalkeeper coach, for 3 matches in the European League, with two additional penalties suspended, due to “serious assault.”
Ferreira sent a kick while jumping towards Guendouzi during a clash that took place after the match near the tunnel leading to the players’ rooms.
UEFA also imposed a fine of 50,000 euros on Fenerbahce for violating the rules of appropriate behavior, in addition to another fine of 45,000 euros due to the misbehavior of its fans.
Lyon, in turn, received a total fine of 108,500 euros due to a series of violations.
The French team begins its European League campaign against its Belgian host Anderlecht next Thursday.
The Ethics Committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has refused to provide the Norwegian Football Association with any updates regarding its complaint against Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, against the backdrop of allegations that he violated the rules of political neutrality related to awarding the “FIFA Peace Prize” to US President Donald Trump.
According to “The Times”, the Norwegian Federation joined an ethics complaint filed by the “Fair Square” human rights group, and requested in a letter to the FIFA Ethics Committee to be informed of the progress of the case and any important procedural developments, in addition to asking it to publish any decisions issued regarding it.
Martin Nguga, a former Rwandan diplomat and politician who heads the investigation chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, responded to the Norwegian Federation, refusing to fulfill its request, despite stressing that he “understands the importance of transparency.”
In his letter, Nguga explained that only persons subject to the proceedings are considered “parties” to them, and therefore, given the confidential nature of the Ethics Committee proceedings, updates on the existence or status of any proceedings cannot be provided.
The letter added that decisions related to publishing the results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the applicable regulatory framework.
Ngoga stressed that the Ethics Committee investigators will “carefully and comprehensively study all the information presented to them.”
The Norwegian Federation is also preparing to file a separate complaint with the FIFA Ethics Committee regarding the case of Folarin Balogun, the American national team striker, whose World Cup suspension was lifted after a call made by Trump to Infantino. The FIFA president insists that the decision was made independently.
An analysis of social media platforms showed a complete collapse in the level of public support for Infantino after the cancellation of the project to sell part of the World Cup rights.
Data from the social media analytics company Ravenio, which tracked more than 6,500 posts on Instagram in 33 markets around the world, revealed that posts related to the FIFA president were few earlier this year, and the majority of them were positive.
The scene changed completely after the negative reactions to World Cup ticket prices, the Balogun case, and finally the “FIFA Forward Enterprise” project.
Since The Times revealed the project on July 28, negative posts about Infantino have outnumbered positive ones 55 to one.
According to Rafinio's research, the crisis has led to more than 418 million video views and 44 million interactions around the world.
