BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique described his group of players as the “best squad in the world” after advancing to the Champions League semifinals for the second straight season.
Under the Spaniard, PSG has replaced its “galacticos” like Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé with talented up-and-coming players and the change in policy appears to be paying off.
With the French league already secured, the Qatar-owned club can focus on winning the Champions League for the first time, having reached the last eight for the third time in five years — albeit after losing 3-2 to Aston Villa in the second leg of the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
While saluting all of his players, Luis Enrique reserved special praise for his goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who produced a string of great saves to prevent Villa taking the game to extra time.
“I think I have the best squad in the world, not only the goalkeeper,” Luis Enrique said after seeing his team advance 5-4 on aggregate. “In a club like we are at PSG, you have a lot of quality players and Gigi is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
“And I have to say that match, for us, allows us to grow up and compete even better.”
Achraf Hakimi was one of the early scorers for PSG on Tuesday — along with fellow full back Nuno Mendes — and the Morocco international said “we are on the way to becoming a big team” having already eliminated Premier League champion-elect Liverpool in the knockout stage.
“I think we are really confident right now,” Hakimi said. “We are again in the semifinals and we want to show PSG is a big team, a big club and we want to fight for all the titles we can.”
Luis Enrique refused to be disappointed by the way his team collapsed in the second half against Villa, which had enough great chances to not just tie the score on aggregate but even advance.
“This is the Champions League and you have to accept that the opposition team has a lot of quality,” he said. “Aston Villa was playing with a lot of intensity in the second half and they scored two goals in three minutes when, at that moment, the match was almost dead.
“I think, over the two matches, we deserved to win.”
PSG will face either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semifinals.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
The Associated Press
