Enrique must outwit Guardiola when PSG meets Man City in Champions League

PARIS (AP) — Luis Enrique credits Pep Guardiola with inventing arguably the “perfect model” of attacking soccer.

He must now outwit him when Paris Saint-Germain faces Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, in a match both teams must win to avoid the prospect of early elimination in the new-look format.

“It's a special game. Not just for the two teams but because I will come across a friend who I shared many great moments with as a player and a person,” Enrique said on Tuesday through a translator.

“What brings us closer is our vision of football: To try and be better than the opponent on the ball, to constantly press the opponent. We can fine-tune our game but we have a similar way of seeing things.”

Guardiola rose to fame as a coach during a glory era for Barcelona, winning the Champions League twice and multiple other trophies. Guardiola's sides hypnotized opponents with a pulsating brand of attacking soccer led by Lionel Messi that was the envy of Europe. Guardiola then turned City into a Premier League force.

“The 4-3-3 with Barcelona was almost the perfect model. He opened up a different way of playing in England and did so with success, he opened many doors for others," Enrique said. “Pep has innovated throughout his career and is not scared to do so again."

Guardiola won the Champions League again with City in 2023, while Enrique's PSG reached the semifinals last season.

Enrique and Guardiola have history

They go back far.

“We were mates in Barcelona and our families are really close friends," Guardiola said. “Our friendship will be eternal. They (Enrique's family) love us (and) I think we have an incredible connection.”

Enrique and Guardiola, who both are 54, played together in Barca's midfield from 1996-2001: Enrique the tireless dynamo who scored 109 goals for the club; Guardiola the astute mine-sweeper protecting defense.

As coaches, they are more similar.

“If anything can define both Pep and I as coaches (it) is that we like to attack. We like to defend properly but we like to devise our game plan to be better than the opposition," said Enrique, who won the Champions League with Barca in 2015. “There are a lot of things I must think about when I have my cappuccino tomorrow morning."

Namely that PSG is in danger of going out.

So is City.

PSG is 25th out of 36 teams, and City is only one point ahead in 22nd. The bottom 12 are eliminated.

“Everyone has to be ready," Enrique said. "Man City do a lot of things tactically, they switch positions a lot. But we pose a lot of problems. The team that is best prepared or best develops its ideas will win.”

City is turning the corner after a slump that had Guardiola interrogating himself. City has rebounded with 22 goals in the past five games. Attacking midfielder Phil Foden is finding form and prolific striker Erling Haaland has signed a mega-contract until 2034.

“City are also very at ease with a transition game and have very dangerous players in attack,” Enrique said. “We will see who makes the most of the possession. We want to keep the ball, it's when you retain possession that you have the most chance of winning.”

As long as you score.

Wasteful PSG has netted just six goals in six games and was blanked by Bayern Munich and Arsenal.

“I hope for a horrible performance from PSG tomorrow,” Guardiola said, jokingly.

Mbappe's shoes not filled

The void left by Kylian Mbappé since he joined Real Madrid is still felt. He scored a career-high 44 goals last season.

“We obviously had a player of reference who scored an immense amount of goals," Enrique said. “I don't think any one of our players previously showed they could score 25 goals in a season, so we have to resolve it through the team.”

PSG's main scoring threat comes from winger Ousmane Dembélé, who has recovered from a heavy flu.

“I feel much better,” he said on Tuesday. “I had five or six days when I wasn't feeling well.”

Dembélé has 11 goals from 22 games and is well on course to beat his best of 14 with Barcelona in 2018-19.

“I'm having a good spell," Dembélé said. "I'm much calmer in front of goal now.” ___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press