Luis Enrique claims he has the best team in the world at Paris Saint-Germain for reaching the Champions League semifinals at the expense of Aston Villa.
PSG entered the second leg after winning 3-1 in the first leg of the Princes last Wednesday.
When Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes’ goals improved them 2-0 in the evening just 27 minutes later, they seemed to have put the draw on the bed, which made Villa need four goals to force the extra time.
However, Youri Tielemans gave Villa hope in the 34th minute, when his efforts were deflected by William Pacho, who was the victim of More More Nocrune as he accidentally helped John McGinn work hard on the 10-minute Nets in the second half.
Ezri Konsa then shot from close range two minutes later, putting Villa in a compelling comeback.
However, the raucous Villa Park crowd was denied the fourth goal it demanded, Gianluigi Donnarumma made a series of saves before Pacho stopped Ian Maatsen from having an seemingly goal-scoring effort late in the stop time to confirm PSG’s position in the last four.
After the game, Luis Enrique was asked if he had the best goalkeeper in the world in Donnarumma, but he went much more than that.
“I think I have the best team in the world, not just goalkeepers,” Luis Enrique replied. “You have a lot of quality players in a club like PSG. It’s football, it’s competition.”
It seems to be an eyebrow-raising claim that the team’s service team, Kylian Mbappe, had moved to Real Madrid last year.
However, after defeating Liverpool in the last 16 games, Luis Enrique’s confidence in a team that has not yet lost at home this season is understandable.
He believes his players will have to stick with their experience against villas and he will improve.
He added: “For our game is something that can make growth and competition better.”
“Aston Villa was great in the second half. I have to say we started the game in a great way, two goals, and I think we deserved the victory over the whole two games.”
PSG will face Arsenal or Madrid in the semi-finals. Arsenal leads the first leg 3-0, with Mbappe and Madrid looking to have a retro turnaround in Santiago Bernabéu to maintain their title.
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