Nicolas Giné, coach of Revel, spoke with Luis Enrique at the final whistle after PSG’s victory in the Coupe de France (9-0) to tell him all the good things he thought of his work and to give him a anecdote about the comeback in 2017.
Nice moment after the 32nd final of the Coupe de France between Revel (R1) and PSG (0-9), Sunday. At the end of the meeting, Nicolas Giné, coach of the Haut-Garonne club, exchanged a few words with Luis Enrique, Parisian technician, to tell him all the good things he thought of him in Spanish. The scene was captured by the cameras and microphones of beIN Sports, broadcaster of the meeting. “I’m a fan of yours, I’m Catalan,” said Nicolas Giné. “I have family in Perpignan and Barcelona.”
He then put his hat in front of his mouth to make a little confession to the former FC Barcelona coach (2014-2017).
“I was at the remontada! I really like you as a coach.”
Luis Enrique was on the Barça bench this famous March 8, 2017 in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League when his team overthrew PSG (6-1) after losing the first leg in France (4-0). A trauma for the Parisian club for many reasons (humiliating score, unfavorable refereeing, etc.).
The Spanish coach smiled at his counterpart’s remark, praised him for the performance and even took care to ask the pronunciation of his name. At a press conference, Nicolas Giné returned to this exchange, recalling the deep respect he had for his Parisian counterpart, whom he sees as the perfect coach for PSG.
“I told him all the good things I thought of him,” he explained. “As fans, if the focus is on the players, I focus more on the coaches. I’m of Spanish and Catalan origin, I really like watching what he does. I told him – and I think so – that he is the right person in the right place. He may not be someone who is going to destroy everything from the start but I remain convinced that it is the coach of the situation who will win big titles in Paris.”