Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique applauds the fans at the end of the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg football match against Borussia Dortmund, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Tuesday. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique insisted he was “proud” of his side despite what he called an “unfair” defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League semi-final.
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PSG missed out on reaching next month’s final at Wembley after losing Tuesday’s semi-final second leg 1-0 at home to the Germans and going out of the competition 2-0 on aggregate.
“My feeling is of sadness. It can’t be anything else. We didn’t manage to fulfil our objective,” Luis Enrique, who led Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2015, told reporters.
He pointed out that PSG hit the frame of the goal four times in the second half of Tuesday’s game, having also struck the post in last week’s 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Germany.
“I don’t think we were inferior over the tie. We hit the woodwork six times. The curious thing about football is that sometimes it’s not fair — we had 31 shots and did not score a single goal.
“Football was not fair with us in this tie. We have to accept it, congratulate the team that reached the final, mourn this and get over the disappointment.”
He added: “I am very proud of my team, without any doubt. I am the first one responsible for the defeat as coach but I am happy with the attitude and behaviour of all the players.”
PSG had been hoping to get to the Champions League final for the second time in their history and win the trophy for the first time.
They must now console themselves with the prospect of a potential clean sweep of the domestic honours in France.
The Qatar-owned club have already wrapped up the Ligue 1 title and will play in the French Cup final against Lyon on May 25 in what will be Kylian Mbappe’s last game for the club — he will depart when his contract expires at the campaign’s end.
“The objective I set out when I arrived was to compete as well as we could for every trophy,” said Luis Enrique, who was appointed as coach ahead of this season.
“When the season ends, after the Cup final, we will see what we have achieved.”
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The Spaniard said he had tried to offer words of comfort to his players in the dressing room after the game.
“I never talk to the players after a game but today I made an exception. I tried to lift them but there is no consolation after such a defeat.
“But this is life and this is sport. It is very important to know how to win but also how to lose.
“We have to congratulate Dortmund and accept the defeat.”
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