Luis Enrique: “Ter Stegen Broke a Record with 24 Long Balls to Beat the Pressure

Luis Enrique Martínez, PSG coach, once again took center stage in the press conference before the match against FC Barcelona (21:00 CET) in the Champions League quarter-finals (second leg). In his opinion, he embodies more of Barcelona’s DNA than Xavi Hernández’s team, and he demonstrated this by stating that “Ter Stegen broke a record with 24 long balls to beat the pressure.” When asked what his team can do to turn the tie around, the Asturian coach replied: “It’s a difficult challenge, it’s the Champions League quarter-finals, and you have to win away at the team that just beat you 2-3.” “We will do the same” He added that, in his view, “the match will present the same circumstances, meaning we will press from minute one and Barcelona will use long balls and play in the last line, with Lewandowski and into space… I think Ter Stegen broke a record since joining Barcelona with 24 long balls played, obviously to overcome our pressure.” And he concluded by stating, “we will do the same, which is to press, and when we have the ball, generate as many situations as possible, and Barcelona, I think, will do the same: use the last line to cause us problems, either with short passes or into space.”