Saint-Brieuc-PSG: “We’re going to suffer,” warns Luis Enrique before the Coupe de France quarter-final

A little break in the middle of high-intensity matches. After Lyon (2-3) and before Lille and Liverpool, PSG travels to Rennes this Wednesday to face Saint-Brieuc, in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France. National 2 fans are eagerly awaiting Luis Enrique's men, who will be rotating in Brittany. The Parisian coach was in a press conference at midday from the Poissy Campus.

How do you explain your team's good physical condition?

LUIS ENRIQUE. It is constant in our teams. The importance we have in physical preparation is a global context. We take care of the players, we do not take risks with the players. There are risks of injury but it is often due to bad luck. Our players run a lot because they enjoy playing.

Are we getting close to your ideal in the game?

I don't have an ideal because it doesn't exist in football. Football requires continuous demands. If there is comfort among the players, it goes to hell.

Can the failed end of the match in Lyon help you for the rest of the competitions?

All aspects of a match are useful for the future. After reviewing the match and analyzing it, it was five minutes, no more, in which we did not know how to defend. The rest was an exceptional and very complete match.

How do you manage playing time and that of Gonçalo Ramos in particular?

We will manage it as we have until now. There is a plan. The most important match is tomorrow but there is a completely flexible plan for the ten matches that are coming. I have a global team perspective. The changes are natural because there is versatility in many. Gonçalo is important when he plays 1 minute, 10 minutes or 90 minutes. He is very important for the team, even if he does not play. He has an exceptional playing time-goals ratio.

How to approach Saint-Brieuc without letting up?

We suffered a lot against Espaly so there is no way to take a breather. We will suffer against Saint-Brieuc. It is a trap match, without a doubt. Football is a sport where the favorite does not always win.

Have you prepared for the penalty shootout?

Of course you can train on everything but you can't repeat the scenario. The pressure, the crowd: you can't repeat the scenario of a match. We know the players who shoot but we have to ask them before if they feel it.

Désiré Doué said that you were asking him to enlarge the land. What does that mean?

It's very basic for those who like to have possession, that's my goal when preparing for matches: you have to use your head, have a powerful physique, very good technique but you have to understand the game. The more you widen the pitch, the better you understand the game. Making it wide creates problems for the opponent since we have the ball. Everything is relative: we have the ball but it depends where we have the ball. If it's the goalkeeper who has the ball... If it's in our opponent's part of the pitch, it's better. Mobility and changing positions allow us to be better when we have the ball. We repeat these situations often.