Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique believes his team fully deserve their place in the UEFA Champions League final and are determined to go all the way to claim the trophy, following their semifinal victory over Arsenal on Wednesday.
“Over the two legs, we scored more goals than them, and in football that’s the most important thing. But Arsenal played a great game, and we suffered a lot,” Enrique said after PSG’s 2-1 win in the second leg in Paris, which sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Goals from Fabián Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi on either side of halftime gave the French champions a comfortable lead in the tie. Bukayo Saka later pulled one back for Arsenal, and PSG midfielder Vitinha missed a chance to extend the lead when his penalty was saved.
Despite the win, PSG were made to work hard, relying on goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for several crucial saves. Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta later claimed his side had been the better team over both legs.
“This was the match where we suffered the most in this Champions League campaign, but we deserve to be in the final,” Enrique said.
PSG will now face Inter Milan in the final in Munich on May 31. Their road to the final has been remarkable—knocking out three Premier League sides: Liverpool, Aston Villa, and now Arsenal.
Their progress comes despite a poor start in the group stage, where they lost three of their first five matches, including a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal. PSG ultimately finished 15th out of 36 in the league phase, trailing group leaders Liverpool by eight points.
“I think it’s clear that results are what matter most, but there’s no doubt we deserved nine more points in the league phase,” Enrique argued.
He added that the difficult early fixtures helped the team grow: “The statistics showed we were one of the best teams in Europe. Once we became more clinical, we showed in this knockout stage that we deserve to be in the final.”
This will be PSG’s second appearance in a Champions League final, five years after they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in Lisbon. Last year, during Enrique’s debut season, they were eliminated in the semifinals by Borussia Dortmund.
“There’s no logic in football, but from my first day at PSG, I said the goal was to make history,” said Enrique, who turns 55 on Thursday. “That goal remains: to be the first to win this much-desired trophy for the club.”
UA / TDS
