Luis Enrique praises Pedri and Barça squad ahead of Champions League clash | OneFootball

PSG's coach, Luis Enrique, praised midfielder Pedri and the Barcelona squad this Tuesday, on the eve of the clash between the teams for the second round of the Champions League. The coach said that the Catalan athlete is the "Harry Potter", protagonist of the famous series of books and films about magic.

"For me, Pedri, without a doubt, is Harry Potter. I hope that tomorrow he doesn't bring the wand. We will do everything to make him participate as little as possible," the coach declared in a press conference.

"But Barça is not just Pedri. It's De Jong, it's Cubarsi, it's Lamine, it's a multitude of high-level players. The game has very strong motivations to try to overcome a team that is very good with and without the ball," he added.

Luis Enrique also stated that the only focus will be on the result, not on the large number of PSG injuries.

"There are many ways to evaluate this. I think you can lament [the absences] or focus on the result. It doesn't matter who is going to play tomorrow, each player will be on a great team, regardless of which one," he emphasized.

The Parisian team traveled to Spain without its big star, the Golden Ball Ousmane Dembélé, in addition to the Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and the Brazilian defender Marquinhos. All the athletes are injured.

As for Vitinha, Fabián Ruíz, and João Neves, midfield starters but affected by physical problems, Luis Enrique confessed that he still doesn't know if they will be on the field. Still, the coach was excited about the duel between two offensive teams.

"To be honest, we don't want to take risks. I think the decision will be more from the player than mine. They have to be ready and prepared. It's an important game, but not decisive. We will evaluate tomorrow," he said.

"For us, it's exciting to play against a team with this mentality and this level (...). No matter what the result will be, I think we will have two similar teams and, for me, the key point will be to see who keeps the ball possession," he pointed out.

The Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi, who also participated in the press conference, gave his teammate Nuno Mendes the task of marking Lamine Yamal.

"A plan to stop Lamine Yamal? As you know, he doesn't play on my side, but he will play against the best left-back in the world, named Nuno Mendes, who has already shown that he is capable of stopping him, as well as other attackers of the same style," Hakimi highlighted.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.