After the good draw held by his team in Monaco, Luis Enrique answered questions from the press and, after three redundant questions about Mbappé who left during the break by choice, he spoke about the match, on both sides, or even the preparation from Real Sociedad/PSG.
Was Kylian Mbappé’s exit at half-time a precaution following his contact with Maripan or a tactical choice?
“It’s 100% a coach’s decision. (For what reason?) Sooner or later we have to get used to playing without Kylian. As a coach, my goal is always to seek the best for the team, what I consider to be the best for the team. »
Can you explain to us your management of Mbappé? You’ve never taken him out before, barring injury, and he’s out for the 3rd time in a row. Is there a problem with Mbappé? Do you think you have a better chance of winning without him?
“I’m not going to get into that game. I am a professional and I have already responded to your colleague and I don’t want to say anything else. There’s no problem…it’s just handling the situation in the best way possible. Which I think is in the best way. »
This is the second draw in a row before Real Sociedad (Tuesday in the Champions League). With this management of Mbappé, are you not taking the risk of fueling controversies at a time when the team needs calm?
“(ironic) Three out of three, hat-trick. Three questions, three times on the same subject, it’s a hattrick. Same answer… I happened to score hat-tricks, even more, and even in Champions, I scored a hat-trick… But so my answer is the same… (the translator translates then he adds) Let’s go for the fourth same question… I never scored a “poker” (quadruplet), I scored one against Ahletic Bilbao, four goals scored but they canceled the fourth.. .”
Regarding the match, how did you find your players this evening? It was sometimes complicated before the last half hour, what did you think of your team’s match?
“I think it was a match that was played in two stages. A first part where the opponent generated more chances and created more danger, while we did not manage to clearly approach the opponent’s goal. But in the second half it changed completely for me, and not just the last half hour, we were better than Monaco and we had more opportunities and we could have won the match. We could also have lost him in the first half and that’s why I think my result was fair. »
So you preferred the second half to the first?
” Without a doubt. If it’s in the sense, “did we play better?”, yes, we played better in the second half. »
Was it a good rehearsal before the Champions League?
“Yes it was a good rehearsal… Before the match, I said that there were similarities with Real Sociedad because the quality of their individuals is high, as is the case for Monaco players , and we were able to see it clearly… Real Sociedad is a Champions League team, which is used to playing matches like this. It will be a very complicated game in San Sebastián because we are going to play a match return against an opponent who has to catch up and who will take risks to do so. I think it was good preparation.”