Soccer-French Cup win perfect preparation for Champions League, says Luis Enrique

The Star

24-05-2025

Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - Paris St Germain v Stade de Reims - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - May 24, 2025 Paris St Germain's coach Luis Enrique celebrates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
PARIS (Reuters) - Paris St Germain players may have had their minds on a bigger prize, but they easily retained their French Cup on Saturday in a display, which manager Luis Enrique said, was the ideal way to prepare for the Champions League final.
A week before they face Inter Milan in a bid to win the club's first and long sought after European Cup, PSG made light work of Stade de Reims in a 3-0 win at the Stade de France.
"It was a very good match. We prepared for the final on the 31st in the best way," Luis Enrique told BeIN Sports.
"This (Champions League) final is important. We want to make history. We're ready. We are a real team and we want to get trophies."
PSG had the job done in a first half where they scored three goals against a Reims side which offered little resistance and Luis Enrique now has the job of readying his side for the biggest game of their season.
"The Champions League final will be a special moment for everyone. There is no special preparation," he said.
"We will have to deal with a lot of pressure, but we have to prepare for it in the best way. It's not easy to manage everything around the team."
Luis Enrique has now clinched the domestic treble in his first two seasons at the club, a period in which PSG has moved away from the star-studded sides of the past, a tactic which may well lead them to their ultimate goal.
"We are a young team but with experience, with the desire to know what we want to do on the pitch," Luis Enrique said.
"We hope to celebrate the Champions League."
Luis Enrique has already won a coveted continental treble as manager of Barcelona, and now wants to do the same with the French club who are aiming to win all before them this season.
"We have three of the four titles that we can win, and we're on the last step. I hope we can make PSG history," the manager told reporters.
"The team showed a lot of commitment and all that is preparing us for the match we are expecting, which will be decisive and which can allow us to make history."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, additional reporting by Vincent Daheron in Paris; Editing by Christian Radnedge)