Once is not usual. Luis Enrique appeared in front of journalists this Saturday, two days before the PSG-Lyon clash on Monday (8:30 p.m., Ligue 1+), during the eighth day of Ligue 1. And for good reason, this shock was postponed at the request of the police headquarters. This nonetheless remains an expected duel, between the Lyon leader and his Parisian runner-up at the end of the previous day.
“It will be complicated. They won at the Parc des Princes last year. The motivation will be there, remembering last year and knowing that we will be first in the event of a victory,” underlines the Spanish technician, on PSG TV.
Obviously, the Parisians will be largely weakened, having lost three players (Dembélé, “Kvara”, Marquinhos) against Barcelona (4-2) last Tuesday, in addition to Nuno Mendes, injured the previous weekend. The Lyonnais will not be at full strength either, with Lois Openda missing in particular. However, the stakes remain significant. And there is the desire to satisfy the Parc des Princes, after Tuesday’s feast. “The key was the last part of the match, after Barça equalized at 2-2. It’s important to be offensive all the time, courageous as a team. We showed that we do the same thing, with the same conviction, whatever the minute of the match,” analyzes “Lucho”, before this match under the sign of Pink October.
The injury to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, potentially out for the rest of the season: “Unfortunately, we already knew after the match that the injury was serious, it is a difficult injury (rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee, Editor's note). It’s clear that we think about the player, what he’s going to experience. It's difficult but you have to be positive and if you want to be professional for 10 or 15 years, you will have injuries, that's the life of pro players. He's a warrior. It’s a different experience but you have to look for the positive and there will be some. We are waiting for it. He was, he is and he will be very important to us. We pay attention to what he needs. (…) We have experience, we know what type of risk we take when we are a professional player. It's important to accept the positive things, but also the negative things. It’s yin and yang all the time. He has been a warrior since the start of his career and it will continue to be the case: we have to overcome that to show what a player, what a person he is. We will see his condition after the operation, it will be better. He will be back, I have no doubt, and even stronger.”
Illya Zabarnyi: “It’s always the same with players who play a lot. And he plays a lot. We have a lot of confidence in him. Each player goes through different situations. You have to analyze things individually. He is ready, he is a very high level player, very young, with a lot of experience. He will improve further compared to his performances last season. It's not easy to arrive in a team of this level and to be competitive from day one. For me, he did it. Obviously, he could improve his performance at the beginning. But I'm happy with what I saw. I see him more comfortable every time he plays. He is a very interesting player who we had thought about recruiting for a long time. I’m very happy to have it.”
If he will be very attentive to the Ballon d’Or after the match, postponed from Sunday to Monday, at the same time as the ceremony: “That doesn’t interest me. I stay focused on the match. If it is better to play on Monday in the current situation, I accept it with good grace. Sunday is a special day, there is an NFL match (in Saint-Denis), without forgetting the current situation. You have to be ready. I have no problem playing on Monday. Afterwards, we have already shown what type of team we are, we have a lot of players who can win this Golden Ball. We’ll see who wins but it wouldn’t change anything we’re looking for as a team.”
Management after injuries: “It will be as usual, I don’t want to change anything from what I usually do and at the same time, I want to change everything (laughs). To be unpredictable, that’s what you have to do. It depends on the players, the match, the opponent, the time of the season... There are questions to be resolved in each match. I am very happy with what I saw. Losing three players in the same match, it's true that it's a bit strange... When we started the session, we said to ourselves: "wow, there are players missing!". But it’s more of a motivation for us as a team. We want to further improve our level.”
The match against Lyon: “The season will still be long in the championship. But we have shown our ability to improve results. We were still far from the top of the rankings a few weeks ago. On Monday, we can be first in case of victory. It’s important to be as high as possible. It’s motivation to play against Paulo Fonseca’s OL. They won at the Parc des Princes in the last duel between the two teams. It’s up to us to show that we are ready for every match.”
Asking players to take precautions to avoid more injuries: “No. We are a team, a family. We share a lot of time. The important moments are when there is suffering. Injuries are part of high-level competition. Every time you can train with the team, it’s positive. Any time you are healthy to live each day, it’s positive. Afterwards, you have to accept things. We are the same team with and without injuries. We are even stronger despite the injuries. We showed it in the last match, we played without Ousmane Dembélé almost the entire match, but also without Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the last part of the match, but we played in the same way, that’s our strength.”
Désiré Doué must do even more in the absence of Dembélé and “Kvara”: “No. That's what you want, for players to do different things. Fortunately, Désiré Doué is an intelligent player. He has to do what he does, give his all in every match, whether there are injuries or not. He doesn't have to show anything special, he has to do what he does when the rest of the players are there. It’s very beautiful for cinema, television… The important thing is that the team overcomes this with the mentality of all the players. And players will be important if they stay focused on the things they do well and try to improve on the rest. It’s business as usual, we’re not changing anything.”
Control: “I don’t like it when we don’t have control, but when we do, we’re crazy and we can play like that. But I don't like it: we are strong in this atmosphere, and whoever the opponent is, but if you have control, it's easier to overcome the match. But if there are times when we are not in control, we are strong too. There are many things that we try to control in important matches, emotions are the key to everything, and don't waste time complaining to the referee because you already know that you can stay distracted and lose a match because of that. We try to control the little details all the time. The players have internalized this but we have to repeat it to try to be even better.”
