Enzo Maresca, the coach of Manchester City, expressed confidence in his team’s ability to compete against PSG despite suffering a 2-4 loss at home in the second round of the Champions League group stage. Following the match, he shared insights on his conversation with Luis Enrique, the coach of the European champions.
Manchester City faced a challenging evening at the Etihad Stadium. PSG dominated the first half, going into halftime with a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, and Vitinha.
In the second half, the home side attempted to mount a comeback, reducing the deficit with a goal from Erling Haaland. However, PSG restored their three-goal advantage through Akliouche. Haaland managed to score again, finalizing the match at 2-4.
Enzo Maresca on the Match: “We Are Very Close to Them”
After the match, Maresca acknowledged PSG’s superiority at certain moments but emphasized the performance his team displayed in the second half.
The Italian coach believes Manchester City did enough to secure a better result and revealed that even Luis Enrique admitted after the match that PSG had their share of luck. “I really enjoy playing against PSG. They are a bold team, know how to apply pressure, play man-to-man, and are very dynamic, but I feel we are very close to them. It was a bizarre match because we conceded two goals within two minutes at the start of the first half, which caused us significant issues. In the second half, we showed enough to deserve more. Luis even told me afterwards that they had quite a bit of luck,” said Enzo Maresca, according to The Guardian.
When asked whether the club’s off-pitch issues or the emotional burden following their decisive 3-0 victory against Liverpool could have affected the team’s first-half performance, Maresca dismissed that idea: “No, I don’t believe that,” the Italian coach replied.
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