Luis Enrique: "We take each game as a challenge" | OneFootball

The Paris Saint-Germain manager answered questions from PSG TV and the media ahead of his side’s Coupe de France semi-final against USL Dunkerque, which kicks off at 21:10 CET tomorrow at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

ON THE TEAM'S CURRENT FORM

'This is a new phase for our players, who are now being praised. All of our opponents have added motivation when they play against us, and it isn't easy to manage that euphoria. Excess isn't good. There'll be negative moments; that's part of football, and we have to accept it. At the moment, the team is going through a very positive phase, but we need to stay focused on what the team needs.'

ON Bradley Barcola

'Bradley defines our team perfectly. He started the season with a series of extraordinary goals, and he very often finds himself in one-v.-ones with the goalkeeper but is generous enough to give the ball to a teammate who is in an even better position than him. That shows the generosity of all of our strikers but particularly him, and as a result, we're scoring more.'

ON THE CONSTANT SEARCH FOR PROGRESS

'We always need to ask ourselves what we can improve. My staff and I never stop questioning ourselves, even when we win a game. We're constantly asking ourselves whether we play how we train. If that isn't the case, we look for alternatives.'

ON Ibrahim Mbaye

'He's been training with us for a year and has definitely improved, both physically and mentally. I see a very mature young man, and he is still very young. I've seen his attitude when he goes back down to the youth teams, and his defensive behaviour is excellent. He needs to move forward step by step, but he's clearly a player that will help us in the near future because he's already doing so now.'

ON DUNKERQUE

'We've already analysed Dunkerque, and I obviously know their manager. They've been on an impressive run in the Coupe de France, knocking out three Ligue 1 teams, including Lille and Brest away. They're a very complete team that dares to try things and attacks by continually looking to spring the offside trap. They work very hard, but I hope that they won't be so lucky tomorrow so that we can go through.'

ON PARIS'S MINDSET

'Whether our opponents are in Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National or National 2, we always want to win. In the previous rounds, we always played in the same way and with the same mindset. We need to live up to our fans' expectations, which involves being highly focused. We take each game as a challenge, and that will be the case against Dunkerque tomorrow.'

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