Coach Luis Enrique: 'The result is not fair to PSG'

The PSG head coach maintained his stance on using four strikers, and said yesterday's 1-4 defeat to Newcastle in the Champions League did not reflect reality.

"I think using four strikers was right. I still reserve my opinion now. As a coach, you always have to go through difficult matches like this. Honestly, I think the result is a bit unfair. But overall, Newcastle played well, congratulations to them," Enrique told Canal+ after the defeat at St James' Park on the evening of October 4.

In this match, Enrique surprisingly started with four strikers, Kylian Mbappe, Goncalo Ramos, Ousmane Dembele and Randal Kolo Muani. Therefore, in theory, they only had two players in the middle of the field, Warren Zaire-Emery and Manuel Ugarte. This caused PSG to quickly collapse before Newcastle's pressing style of play.

Enrique directed PSG in the loss to Newcastle. Photo: AP

In the 17th minute, the visitors let Miguel Almiron score. The gap was doubled in the 39th minute from a header by Dan Burn. Early in the second half, while PSG were struggling, Newcastle added another blow from Sean Longstaff's cross-angle shot. Despite scoring a goal thanks to Lucas Hernandez, the French team still had to leave with a three-goal loss when they conceded a long-range goal from Fabian Schar in injury time.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and technical director Luis Ocampos looked on in frustration from the stands, while Enrique was questioned over his tactics, with some suggesting the Spaniard had underestimated Newcastle, who were playing their first home Champions League game in 20 years.

"Newcastle were very effective near the box and we made some unacceptable mistakes," said Enrique. "If you make a mistake, you pay for it. Their pressing style worked. We tried to create as many chances as possible, but we didn't have a high efficiency. It's a meaningful result for Newcastle, but I don't think PSG deserved to lose so badly."

The former Barca coach insisted his tactics worked, but PSG players made many mistakes and wasted chances, so they did not achieve good results.

PSG travel to Rennes this weekend in Ligue 1 round 8. They are currently fifth with 12 points, two points behind leaders Monaco. PSG then play Strasbourg and then Milan in the next round of Champions League Group F. They have three points from their first-round win over Dortmund and will strengthen their position in the race for a knockout round spot if they win the final round.

Duy Doan (according to Eurosport )

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