They have prepared all season for this type of meeting. This Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain travels to the pitch at Signal Iduna Park to challenge Borussia Dortmund in a Champions League semi-final first leg match. A crucial meeting for Parisians who had already come to this stadium at the start of the season. In the same group as the Ruhr club, Kylian Mbappé’s teammates managed to snatch a draw in a red-hot German venue. For several days now, the Germans have warned their counterparts on the other side of the Rhine: the atmosphere in Dortmund will be electric on Wednesday. In the past, the capital club had often given in mentally when faced with hostile terrain.
However, under the leadership of an intrepid Luis Enrique, these mental flaws seem to be over. Present at a press conference in Germany on the eve of the clash against the Marsupials, the Spanish coach once again wanted to remind us that his group had no fear or pressure: “I believe that any other result than qualifying for the final would be a disappointment for all four teams. This is why I have been saying for a long time that the press knows nothing about football. The beautiful thing is enjoying a special match in a unique atmosphere in Europe. (…) Since my arrival, I have felt the support of the club and the players. We are in a process of improvement, this is only the beginning of the project. There is one month left and we can still win all the competitions. We must try to manage our emotions well, manage pressure well. Pressure should not be seen as a threat.»
Luis Enrique only thinks about winning
But while they had not been able to win away in the group stage against three big atmospheres, doubts are still allowed for the members of PSG who nevertheless won in San-Sebastian and in Barcelona during the previous rounds . Asked about the pressure represented by a trip to face the yellow wall of Dortmund after the first leg, Gonçalo Ramos went further by affirming that the situation is very different five months later: “most of us are familiar with this stage. It’s always special and difficult to play here. But a team like ours is capable of playing in such a stadium, we have to be ready to play here if we want to win titles. We are more of a team compared to the previous match. We had more time to work. We know each other well. We added a lot of players and now we are a family. Last time, not all players were available.»
Visibly relaxed with a meeting which crystallized fears in the capital, Luis Enrique reminded everyone what the Parisian objective was: to win and qualify for a new Champions League final. Despite his apparent detachment and his formulas designed to put things into perspective, the former Spain coach remains well aware of it: “it will be a match like in the quarter-final. Speculating is not our way of playing. We will try to win with our football. It’s going to be a great show, there are going to be goals. Throughout the season there are different moments. You have to enjoy this kind of match in these kinds of scenarios. We are still in a learning phase. We are ready to play two big matches. Our goal is to win. I hope so. My experience tells me that tomorrow is the time to be competitive. In the group stage, we failed to win away, but we did against Real Sociedad and Barça. History may or may not repeat itself. The goal is to win here.» Their goal is clear.
