Luis Enrique has overseen a crazy comeback on the continent before: the Remontada of 2017, when Barcelona beat PSG 6-1 in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie in the Champions League. But as happy as he was with the result at the end of the evening in Udine, he did not mince his words.
The Spaniard said "Tottenham deserve more" from a match where they put a lid on Paris Saint-Germain for most of the action. Thankfully, his belief never died, and his players pulled through.
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‘The difference was stark’
The Parisians have been almost invincible for the last seven months. They earned the Trophée des Champions in the first five days of 2025 to set the tone for a historic year in which they have claimed their second straight domestic double, their first Champions League crown, and now their first UEFA Super Cuptitle after reaching the final of the Club World Cup at their first attempt.
Yet, Chelsea crushed their dreams of a sextuple with a 3-0 triumph, scoring all three strikes before the break. The favourites had no response, and it seemed this showing was heading in a similar direction.
“I'm not sure we deserve this trophy because the difference was stark between Tottenham Hotspur and us. They've had six weeks of prep and we've only had six days. that the difference was stark. It was huge. I think we were trying to play our football and we just could not for the first 80 minutes.”
The Spaniard saw a lot of errors on the pitch to suggest that the side were far from the best. Winning does not happen by luck, but on another night, they easily could have ended up being empty-handed.
“We had a lot of poor passes and we actually were very lucky. Lady Luck was smiling on us. We were able to score two goals and we're able to go to the penalty shootout. That's the name of the game.”
He hailed the fans for their fervent support, sticking by the players through a poor performance.
“The fans are always with us. They didn't stop singing. They were that 12th man behind the team. We were trailing for most of the game but they were always behind us. I'm so happy because of our fans.”
However, the 55-year-old did not leave his squad out to dry. They only came back to base to train last Wednesday after a schedule of fixtures that lasted for the best part of eleven months. The group also had no preseason fixtures last weekend, so this clash was their first action since the return from the USA, and the boss believes it is normal for players to perform below their levels at that stage.
“It was a very strange game for us. It's normal that there was such a difference between the teams because you need to train. You need to prepare. It's not just about being on the right fitness levels.”
On the other hand, Spurs have been getting used to life with Thomas Frank,, who arrived as their new manager in June. They had played six times in the last four weeks before this contest, and it showed.
“It's also about the technicality because I think that we have seen players that were lacking technical prowess I would say and which is completely normal. I remember from my playing days when you come back after holidays, you look at the ball and you say what is this? Then, when you are playing a final against a team such as Spurs, I think that they probably deserve to win it more than we did.”
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‘Lucas showed personality’
There were some things to make Enrique happy apart from getting his hands on the silverware.
The roll of the dice with the bench paid off. He sent on Fabian Ruiz at the hour mark, then Ibrahim Mbaye replaced Bradley Barcola as a right winger. The final two changes clinched the turnaround.
Lee Kang-in started the fightback in the 85th minute with a drilled shot from outside the box to halve the deficit. In the fourth minute of injury time, Ousmane Dembele dug out a pinpoint cross, and Goncalo Ramos, the old school striker in their squad, stood in the penalty area to tuck it away.
“I never stop believing in my players. Football has shown us time and time again what can happen. After 80 minutes, we were able to get into the box. For us, it was a good opportunity. Players came off the bench and got in the box. I am happy with what I saw from my boys and their performances.”
A penalty shootout would settle the score, and it was time for the goalkeeper to grab the limelight. Lucas Chevalier could not stop the two Tottenham goals from central defenders at set-pieces and will be disappointed with the second strike. However, he made amends for his mistake in that moment.
Vitinha missed the target with his stutter step routine before Mathys Tel mimicked the blunder. The only save of the shootout belonged to the Frenchman, who dived to his left to thwart van de Ven.
“I'm very happy with the way that the game ended. It's very important for him. He showed exactly what he was made of. He showed his character, his personality, things that we ask here at PSG.”
Chevalier walked into the arena under the lights before the action had even begun. His new club chose to get him from Lille while their top shot stopper for the last four years, Gianluigi Donnarumma, dithered about his commitment to staying in the French capital with his contract expiring in 2026.
The Italian is about to leave the team despite his heroics on the way to the Parisians' first Champions League crown. It was not all perfect from his replacement, but he held his nerves to show up when it mattered the most, and in a moment that has been a specialty of Donnarumma to deliver the goods.
“I’m so happy with his performance, with his personality, but also the performance with regards to how he was helping the team. We are looking to get better, but we're on the right track and we will be better this year. For the curtain raiser, it was difficult. Everyone was talking about the situation. But Lucas showed personality, a good character and he showed exactly why he is part of the PSG team.”
It is not unreasonable to say that Spurs should have gotten much more out of this meeting. At the same time, it is a credit to their opponents that they never stopped trying to score until full time.
“If I have to speak about one important thing for us, one of the keys last season, it's faith. We think we can win every match even if we’re losing. But to be honest, Tottenham deserve much more. They played better than us. They were better than us first 80 minutes and football is sometimes unfair.”
