Enrique: We are in the farmers' league, and Barcelona deserved to qualify for the final
Luis Enrique, coach of Paris Saint-Germain, spoke in press statements after qualifying for the UEFA Champions League final by defeating Arsenal 2-1 in the second leg of the semi-final, knowing that the first leg ended with the Parisian team winning 1-0.
The coach said in his remarks: "A lot of emotions. Mikel Arteta almost killed me. They managed to exploit every ball. The team shows its great talent. We dominated the first half with counter-attacks."
He continued: "We deserve to qualify for the final. We were the team with the worst match schedule in the first round, and I believe the team maintained its confidence."
About Donnarumma's brilliance: "How can you win the Champions League without an outstanding goalkeeper? In a team at this level, there can be nothing less than that."
Regarding playing in the Champions League final: "Great excitement! Arsenal played wonderfully. We had to defend, but we had the chance to launch some counter-attacks... it was very difficult. It wasn't the match we wanted."
On this season's victories over 4 English clubs in the competition: "Well... we are playing in the farmers' league, right? We are the farmers' league."
About Barcelona's elimination yesterday against Inter: "Barcelona scored 6 goals in total across the two matches, and if you told someone that they would score 6 goals in the semi-final and be eliminated, they wouldn't believe you. They could have qualified for the final, and they deserved it honestly, yesterday's result was a bit strange. But to be frank, playing against Barcelona in the Champions League final would have been the worst thing for me."
He added: "I think Barcelona has proven through its style the quality of football played in Barcelona, and throughout history, I believe they have excelled in this. If we weren't at this good level, I would have been happy for Barcelona to qualify and win the tournament. I know that Paris Saint-Germain does not have much sympathy in Barcelona, but that is life, and I am just doing my job."
He concluded about the difficulty of winning tonight: "When a player sees that the match is not going well, he thinks about retreating and defending. But the opposite is true; you must press. But the first half was difficult. We suffered a lot today."
The coach said in his remarks: "A lot of emotions. Mikel Arteta almost killed me. They managed to exploit every ball. The team shows its great talent. We dominated the first half with counter-attacks."
He continued: "We deserve to qualify for the final. We were the team with the worst match schedule in the first round, and I believe the team maintained its confidence."
About Donnarumma's brilliance: "How can you win the Champions League without an outstanding goalkeeper? In a team at this level, there can be nothing less than that."
Regarding playing in the Champions League final: "Great excitement! Arsenal played wonderfully. We had to defend, but we had the chance to launch some counter-attacks... it was very difficult. It wasn't the match we wanted."
On this season's victories over 4 English clubs in the competition: "Well... we are playing in the farmers' league, right? We are the farmers' league."
About Barcelona's elimination yesterday against Inter: "Barcelona scored 6 goals in total across the two matches, and if you told someone that they would score 6 goals in the semi-final and be eliminated, they wouldn't believe you. They could have qualified for the final, and they deserved it honestly, yesterday's result was a bit strange. But to be frank, playing against Barcelona in the Champions League final would have been the worst thing for me."
He added: "I think Barcelona has proven through its style the quality of football played in Barcelona, and throughout history, I believe they have excelled in this. If we weren't at this good level, I would have been happy for Barcelona to qualify and win the tournament. I know that Paris Saint-Germain does not have much sympathy in Barcelona, but that is life, and I am just doing my job."
He concluded about the difficulty of winning tonight: "When a player sees that the match is not going well, he thinks about retreating and defending. But the opposite is true; you must press. But the first half was difficult. We suffered a lot today."
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