Luis Enrique and PSG get set for 'emotional' meeting with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said facing former athlete Lionel Messi will be an "emotional" reunion for pair himself and the French club ahead of Sunday's Club World Cup duel versus Inter Miami.
Argentine great Messi joined PSG in 2021 from Barcelona, where Luis Enrique had coached him and many other current Inter Miami stars.
The forward departed in 2023, the same summer the Spaniard arrived at PSG, having won two Ligue 1 titles but failed to bring the French club the Champions Competition triumph they craved.
Luis Enrique eventually led PSG to European success this campaign as they won the title for the first time by thrashing Inter Milan on May 31.
"I think the fixture in an emotional sense is special for me, lacking a doubt, for the club too and the stars who have been here with Messi," Luis Enrique told a brief conference Saturday.
The coach said he was also excited over facing Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Inter Miami boss Javier Mascherano, every of whom he coached at Barcelona as they won the treble in 2015.
"It's beautiful to see these stars, who are extra than sole stars for me, it will be special before and after the fixture," he continued ahead of the fixture in Atlanta.
Luis Enrique said Messi's presence would be a motivating factor for his PSG side, who are one of the leading favourites to victory the competition.
"If we can't get the ball off them it won't look good for us, since Busquets is still the same, Lionel Messi with the ball is unique," he said.
"Luis Suarez, you saw the last strike he scored.
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and on top of that they have a coach like Mascherano.
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"For us it's very motivating.
We won the Champions Competition recently, but for us we have a lot of hunger still to show we have room to improve, that we want to compete.
"There's no better stage to compete than in this marvellous arena, facing a squad in which there is a man who is called Leo Messi, who is a revered figure never sole for Barca supporters, but people who enjoy him as a athlete.
"No 'slip-ups'Luis Enrique said star PSG forward Ousmane Dembele had trained this week but he would "take no risks" with the French winger for the last-16 duel at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
After Botafogo stunned PSG in the group stage and Inter Miami surprised with a 2-1 victory over Porto, Luis Enrique called on his stars to maintain their concentration.
"When you play in these type of competitions, and I know it perfectly well from coaching the Spanish national squad, you cannot slip up whatsoever," said Luis Enrique.
"You cannot pause, you cannot be excessively confident, you can't do anything wrong since 90 minutes go by very quickly, and I think it's important that from the start we try and make our mark, impose our fixture and that's our objective.
"The coach said the way to try and shackle Messi was collectively, rather than individually.
"Messi can dribble (past) any athlete," added Luis Enrique.
"If we want to stop Leo Messi, we don't want sole one athlete, since we are dead - we need the collective.
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