PSG’s Luis Enrique Explains Emotional Toll of Eliminating Barcelona in the UCL

Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has a love for FC Barcelona. After all, the 53-year-old played for the club and had a successful tenure as their manager. However, he’s a professional, but it doesn’t mean eliminating the Spanish side was any fun for him. 

Barcelona took a 1-0 lead in the game and were up 4-2 on aggregate. But from that peak, everything swiftly unraveled, leaving the team in disarray. Ronald Araújo was sent off following a foul on Bradley Barcola in the middle of the first half, and PSG would score four unanswered goals. 

Ousmane Dembélé leveled the scoring 1-1 in the match and made it 4-3 on aggregate late in the first half. Vitinha scored in the 54th minute to level the scoring on aggregate at 4-4 as the Ligue 1 side took a 2-1 lead in the match. 

Kylian Mbappé scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and added the insurance goal in the 89th minute, bringing the aggregate score to 6-4. After the match, Enrique spoke to the media about overturning the situation against Barcelona and the emotions behind it.

“Facing FC Barcelona was difficult on a sentimental and emotional level,” Enrique told reporters (h/t Paris Fans). “I tried to control my emotions as much as possible. I tried to do what seemed right to me in those two matches. Otherwise, I am very happy the team was in the game.

“We started well, but the first action from Barça ended in a goal. We didn’t deserve that goal. From there, the team continued to grow. We were able to have an extra man, but everyone performed at their best. Even though the red card helped us, we need to know how to play against this kind of team and win.”