Luis Enrique believes that winning the Champions League last season has had a transformative effect on Paris Saint-Germain, infusing his players with newfound confidence that can propel the club to a successful title defence.
PSG claimed European football’s greatest prize for the first time with victory over Internazionale at Munich’s Allianz Arena three and a half months ago.
Luis Enrique’s side begin their quest to retain the trophy against Serie A side Atalanta on Wednesday night, and the 55-year-old Spaniard is confident that not even the absence of influential attackers Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, both of whom suffered muscle injuries over the international break, will dampen his players’ belief that they can stage an encore.
‘We are convinced that we have a chance to win this trophy again’
“For me, it’s harder to win the first than the second or third,” said Luis Enrique, sporting a shaved head and a shoulder sling after undergoing surgery on a broken collarbone following a cycling accident earlier this month.
“The first title is always difficult, because the players don’t think they’re capable of winning it. But we showed the way. Now, the whole of PSG and the young players want to win it, because they know they are capable.
“I don’t need to do anything, the players are just as ambitious as last season. Last year I said that the players enjoy football, and it’s easy for me to motivate them. We are convinced that we have a chance to win this trophy again.”
History suggests it will not be easy; in 2018, Real Madrid became the only team to defend the European Cup since Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan in 1990. Yet there is a clear sense that PSG’s trajectory has altered since that heady night in Munich, when they put five past Inter to put years of frustration behind them.
‘It is my mentality to seek improvement’
Despite a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, this summer’s run to the Club World Cup final offered further evidence of the club’s progress, and it would be a major surprise if there were a repeat of last year, when they were required to go through the playoffs to reach the knockout rounds of the competition after suffering three defeats and a draw in the league phase, results that left them outside the top eight.
“It is in my mentality to seek improvement, to show the players that there is no complacency about the future,” said Luis Enrique. “After winning the European title, our goal, and also the goal of the club, the city and our fans, is to make history again and win the Champions League for the second time in a row. We have to be ambitious.”
After facing Atalanta, PSG will travel to Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen next month before hosting Bayern Munich and Tottenham in November. They will complete the league phase with visits to Athletic Bilbao and Sporting CP, before Newcastle visit the Parc des Princes at the end of January.
