Luis Enrique urges PSG to improve despite Salzburg win
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Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique eyes the ball during the Champions League match against Salzburg.
PHOTO: AFP
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SALZBURG – Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique praised his side after their 3-0 win at Salzburg in the Champions League on Dec 10, but said they must improve if they want to stay in the competition.
The Ligue 1 leaders endured a terrible start to their European campaign, with defeats by Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and last season’s English Premier League runners-up Arsenal.
However, the victory over Salzburg moved them into the play-off places and they now sit 24th in the standings – before another round of fixtures on Dec 11 – with seven points from six games. Yet that is not enough for Enrique.
“Football is a pretty unfair sport, the classification is quite tight, a goal can make a difference and we still have two important games ahead, we can still be out,” he said.
“This wasn’t a better game than PSV (Eindhoven) or Atletico Madrid. I’d even say it was worse, but that’s football. We know we have to improve, and the squad hasn’t changed a lot. We need points, and we will try to win the next games.”
The coach did, however, praise the efforts of left-back Nuno Mendes, who scored their second goal at the Stadion Salzburg.
“Nuno brings other solutions for his physical and technical qualities,” the Spaniard said.
“He can both complete the triangle at the back and play up front. He’s playing higher up at the moment. He brings a lot offensively. But that could change.”
Goncalo Ramos and Desire Doue scored the other two goals for PSG. Scoring thrice also allowed them to double their tally of goals so far in the competition, though their goal difference is now zero.
Enrique will now turn his attention in the competition to the match against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Jan 22, before they close their campaign against VfB Stuttgart seven days later.
“We don’t have the points we should have. It was important to score tonight because for one goal, you can be out of the Champions League. We have to go game by game, there’s City now,” he added.
Over at Arena AufSchalke, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany praised his veteran forward Thomas Muller, who took advantage of a rare start this season to put the side ahead against Shakhtar Donetsk after they had gone behind early. The German side won 5-1, with other goals coming from Konrad Laimer, a brace from Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala.
“His goal is a quality that he always had in his career, just the right moment, the right place and he scored the goal very efficiently,” Kompany said of Muller.
“And then of course the energy, the passion, the leadership. For us, it is very important to have a good balance between experienced players and young players who still have to grow.”
Muller had started only one of Bayern’s previous five games in Europe but, with Harry Kane out injured, the 35-year-old stepped up and was in the perfect position to put Bayern in front just before half-time and begin the fightback.
Kompany has also given Muller just three starts in the Bundesliga this season, but the coach was keen to emphasise the German’s importance to his squad, and his ability to still be there when it counted.
“It has always been clear that he still plays a very important role for us even, if sometimes, it is not every minute in the season. It is sometimes normal,” he added.
“Because he has so much experience, he knows how important these moments are. At that moment, it was his chance and he did something important for the team.” REUTERS, AFP
