Luis Enrique has added his voice to the Champions League final style debate between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal by saying he and Gunners manager Mikel Arteta have “taken different routes to the same destination.”
PSG coach Enrique is aiming to guide the Ligue 1 champions to back-to-back Champions League titles, and win his third overall as a coach, by masterminding a victory against newly-crowned Premier League champions Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday.
But the game promises to offer a huge contrast in styles with PSG’s flair facing up against Arteta’s physical, direct and set-piece driven Arsenal.
While Arsenal have scored more set-piece goals than any other major European team this season, Enrique doesn’t even employ a set-piece coach at PSG.
But despite the opposing philosophies, Enrique says that Arsenal will pose a real threat to PSG’s hopes of retaining their title.
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“We are both very attacking teams who score lots of goals,” Enrique told reporters when asked about the clash of styles. “We both want to reach the same destination, but we have taken different routes.
“We know the opponent very well. We played against them last year and before — there are always things we can tweak, at the back and up-front as well.
“But we have shown for the last three seasons that we are a team that plays and that gets great pleasure and enjoyment from that. We want to be consistent with that.
“It is maybe six-and-a-half years that Arteta has been at Arsenal, so he knows the team inside and out.
“But Arsenal are absolutely worthy of winning the Premier League. They were the best team, consistently the best, even with Man City on their tails, so they deserve the title.”
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While Arsenal have benefited from a fortuitous path to the final with ties against Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP and Atlético Madrid, PSG have had to overcome Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage, as well facing a playoff-round tie against French rivals Monaco.
Enrique said that his team have had to “suffer” to reach the final, but are better for it as a consequence.
“I enjoyed all of the games we played to reach the final,” he said. “They were seven or eight games that showed exactly who we are .
“We suffered and we needed to suffer, to show the kind of team we are. We have already gone down in the history books as one of best teams in the world, but we are looking to win it again.”
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PSG go into Saturday’s final as strong favourites to deny Arsenal their first-ever Champions League title.
But Enrique has warned that Arsenal will pose a stern test to his team. “It’s a final and there are no favourites in a final,” he said. “Finals are always a difficult game. Last year was exceptional and we did dominate against Inter, but in the final tomorrow, I don’t think there is a favourite.
“I think it will be very close, but we must enjoy the 90 minutes because there is always a lot of tension.
“I don’t think there is any better motivation than winning the Champions League. We will see tomorrow who is the best and who has won.”
