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Paris St Germain return to the scene of last year’s Champions League triumph when they take on Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg, and manager Luis Enrique has plenty of memories of the venue should extra motivation be required.
PSG won an enthralling first leg 5-4 at home and take their slender advantage to Bayern’s Allianz Arena, where the French club won their long-awaited first Champions League trophy in a 5-0 win over Inter Milan last May.
Luis Enrique also led Barcelona to win the competition a decade previously, when his side overcame Bayern in the last four.
“Of course we have brilliant memories here,” Luis Enrique told reporters on Tuesday.
“Coming back to Munich will always be a real pleasure because we can remember what we experienced last year.
“If I go a bit further back to when I was Barcelona coach, the year we won the Champions League we played in the semi-final here against Bayern in the second leg and we went on to win the final. So that is another source of motivation for me.”
Given the frantic nature of the first leg, where PSG fell behind, then took a 5-2 lead before Bayern came back to within one goal, the outcome in Munich is almost impossible to predict, but Luis Enrique said he expects more of the same.
“As coaches, we always say the same thing, that there is a difference between the first match and the second,” he said.
“Normally it’s because of the result, the stadium, or the differences between the two teams. But in this case, I can’t say it will be any different from what we saw in the first match.
“I think neither team accepts that the other is better, and that’s what this match will reflect.”
Despite taking a one-goal lead into the second leg, there is little danger PSG will take to the pitch in Munich with the intention of holding onto what they already have.
“As a team we have the same target as in every away game,” Luis Enrique said.
“That is our mentality, we try to win every game and we don’t need to play for a particular result because we just want to win tomorrow.
“We are ready, we know that Bayern can get back into it and that we can also score goals, and we are certainly not here to defend.”
Bayern ready for unforgettable moment, says Kompany: Bayern have worked their way to within a game of the final, and players and fans are preparing for an unforgettable moment in semi-final second leg against, coach Vincent Kompany said on Tuesday.
Kompany told a press conference there was a feeling among his players and Bayern fans that they were ready to book a spot in the competition’s final.
“There is this feeling that together we will take the next steps,” Kompany said. “Few believed it at the start of the season that we will have a chance with the last home game to reach the Champions League final.”
“Now we are here, we have experienced great moments and the fans believe we will make it and together we want to make this moment unforgettable.”
The Bavarians, in Kompany’s second season in charge, have secured the Bundesliga title and can clinch the domestic double with a win over VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup final on May 23.
The Belgian, however, refused to be rattled by the pressure to deliver on the big European stage in front of a home crowd.
“Total calmness, internal calmness,” Kompany said when asked how he felt.
“Not just before this game but I try not to have this feeling of the game play a role too early.”
“Do the routine calmly, find the right words for tomorrow and just search for the right last phrase for the team to influence that one percent,” he said.
“We want to win the match. We have ideas that we believe will help us do that. The most important thing is to win the game and that is the priority,” Kompany said.
Agencies
