PSG boss Luis Enrique not underestimating Coupe de France opponents Nice
Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique is treating their Coupe de France quarter-final clash with Nice “like a final” as they look to avenge their league defeat earlier in the season.
PSG have won the competition a record 14 times and will be looking to reclaim the trophy for the first time since 2021.
Enrique’s side have run riot in the competition so far, beating sixth-tier Revel 9-0 and US Orleans from the third tier 4-1 but Enrique knows Nice will provide a tougher challenge.
He told a press conference: “It’ll be a very interesting game.
“One of the teams will be knocked out after the final whistle, so that means it’ll be a very open and complex game.
“There will be high pressing and commitment from both teams. It’s a match we’re really looking forward to, and we’re treating it like a final.
“The Coupe de France is a very attractive competition, just as cup competitions are in every country. They’re historic competitions that lots of fans love.
“It’s difficult, because the games are played over just 90 minutes and then it’s straight to penalties. So tomorrow, we’ll have to be better than Nice throughout the whole of the game.”
Ligue 1 leaders PSG sit 10 points clear the top of the table and have only suffered a single defeat so far, that being to Wednesday’s opponents when they slipped to a 3-2 defeat at home in September.
Despite that, Enrique says revenge will not be on their mind come kick-off.
He said: “There’s not a feeling of revenge. Our game against Nice is our only defeat of the league season, and up until a few weeks ago, they were title rivals.
“They’re a very good team with and without the ball. Along with Brest, they have the best defensive record, and they’re also the team that gives up the fewest chances.
“I like this team a lot, it’ll be a very tough game. But tomorrow there won’t be a feeling of revenge.”
France winger Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed a successful debut season at PSG so far this term since arriving from Barcelona.
Dembele has proved to be one of the most creative players in the league with 11 assists to his name in all competitions and Enrique thinks he is one of PSG’s best players at the moment.
He added: “Ousmane Dembele is one of our best players, and I think he’s one of the best players in terms of winning one-on-one situations.
“We know the majority of teams keep things compact in the middle of the pitch, so Ousmane usually plays out wide.
“But Real Sociedad were pressing well on the flanks, so I wanted to put Ousmane in the middle for that game to better exploit the space.”
Bodo/Glimt: The Norwegian upstarts enjoying themselves in Europe
FotMob - February 16, 2024, 10:05 AM
After years of extolling the values of both Norwegian football and the European Conference League via our social media channels, we thought it high time that FotMob combined the two.
So here we are in Amsterdam, on a grey Thursday night in February, following Eliteserien champions Bodø/Glimt as they visit the Johan Cruyff Arena, home to Ajax Amsterdam, and one of Europe’s footballing Meccas.
By Bill Biss
This isn’t Glimt’s first continental adventure — the side hailing from North Norway have travelled to, and surprised, a number of big name sides over recent seasons. Playing an exciting brand of fluid, attacking football under revolutionary coach, Kjetil Knutsen, this is becoming something of a habit.
Glimt first made headlines when they went to Milan in 2020, scored twice at the San Siro, but narrowly lost in a Europa League qualifier. Then, they demolished José Mourinho’s Roma, beating them 6-1 at home in the group stage of the 2021/22 Europa Conference League, before drawing away in the Italian capital. In fact, they made it all the way to the quarter-finals that year, beating Celtic and AZ Alkmaar, and then Roma again in the first leg when they were paired together for a second time in the last eight. They eventually came undone as José got his revenge at the Olimpico. Last season, a memorable Europa League campaign saw Glimt visit Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven.
And by virtue of their third Norwegian title in four years, they’re now at it again. Progressing to this clash with Ajax in the play-off round for the Conference League knockout stages having finished second in their group.
How did this happen? Bodø/Glimt are not traditionally one of the Eliteserien’s most recognisable clubs, with the likes of Molde and Rosenborg more widely known out side of the Nordic countries. But under Knutsen, who joined in 2018, they have been completely transformed. The players, the club, the relatively small town of Bodø in the Arctic Circle, have all bought in to his methods. Famously, these include employing a former-fighter pilot turned sports psychologist to help the side focus on the quality of performance over mere results. But, of course, the results have come. And the spoils have been plentiful — the club’s only previous honours include a Cup won in 1975, and again in 1993. Then nothing else until 2020 when Knutsen’s side smashed the points record, the goals scored record, and the margin of victory record to lift their first ever league title.
Typically, the club’s biggest names have caught the attention of clubs overseas, and many have left — most recently, tricky wide forward Amahl Pellegrino transferred to MLS side San Jose Earthquakes for an undisclosed but rumoured to be hefty fee, and former-striker Victor Boniface is lighting up the Bundesliga with leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Knutsen, though, has stayed. And successfully re-built his side in the same style, each season, with finances buoyed further by their exploits in UEFA competition.
In fact, the club have welcomed back a number of star names who previously lit up the Eliteserien, earned a move abroad, but struggled to find their feet elsewhere. Jens Petter Hauge is back, on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, having initially left to join Milan in 2020. Captain Patrick Berg — who we interviewed back in 2021 — has had a spell with Lens in Ligue 1 in the intervening years, but is back, to lead his team out when we watched Thursday’s game in Amsterdam.
Despite success on the pitch now being commonplace, it’s still a journey that’s been magical for the club’s fanbase. So much so, one fanatical supporter we met outside, travelling to the game as one of three brothers, implored us to “bet your house on Bodø/Glimt winning tonight.”
And you know what, we very nearly did. With new signing Jordan Henderson controlling the middle of the park, Ajax did start the game in attacking fashion but as shot after shot went sailing over the Glimt goal, something changed. Perhaps having gauged their opponents fragile confidence — after all, this is perhaps the worst season Ajax have had in recent times — Glimt began to break forward. And they looked the more dangerous side, despite the fact they haven’t played a competitive game since December.
Roving midfielder Albert Grønbæk was Glimt’s main protagonist, and it was him who gave the away side the lead in the 16th minute, finishing off a flowing team move so typical of Knutsen’s patterns of play. The fans around us in the away section were buoyant. And the beer stand was doing a roaring trade at half-time.
Grønbæk — who is destined to be the next record breaking transfer to leave the Eliteserien — doubled down in the second half, scoring from another quick breakaway, and sending our new friends dressed head-to-toe in yellow in to raptures.
But it wasn’t to last. And we were grateful that we kept our hands in our pockets, and our mortgage was safe, when VAR intervened to upgrade a yellow card to a red card for Glimt’s Odin Bjørtuft as Ajax were awarded a penalty in second-half injury time. Branco van den Boomen tucked that away, and Ajax found a leveller, in the 97th minute to complete an unlikely looking comeback.
On this evidence, though, Bodø/Glimt will travel back north (all the way north) confident that they can complete the job on home soil. And should they be triumphant in the return leg, there won’t be many sides relishing a trip to the Arctic Circle in the Round of 16.
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