Luis Enrique defended his tactics during Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-1 defeat to Newcastle in the Champions League, with a 4-2-4 system drawing criticism.
Despite traveling to St James’ Park, with an enthusiastic crowd ready to cheer on the Magpies, PSG refused to scale back their ambitions during their midweek visit to England. Luis Enrique maintained an attacking formation that saw Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani, Goncalo Ramos and Kylian Mbappé feature in the same starting XI.
PSG paid the price for their ambition by being left open in defense, Newcastle having produced a dream match against the Ligue 1 title holders. The hosts took a three-goal lead after 50 minutes, the visitors showing themselves to be uninspired.
Despite this, Enrique confided in Channel+ after the meeting to discuss his tactics and the final result:
“I thought it was better, and I still do.” These are difficult matches for a coach to experience. I honestly think the result is a little unfair, but not completely. Congratulations to Newcastle, who played some very good football. They were effective in the final part of the pitch and we made a few mistakes, it’s difficult to accept. If you make mistakes, you pay for it. Their pressure worked. We tried to put as many chances as possible in front of their goal, but we weren’t very effective in the final part of the pitch. But the score is excessive. The result is so important to them. But I think we didn’t deserve this result. »
