Luis Enrique has revealed the tactical instructions he will offer Kylian Mbappe for PSG’s Champions League semi-final second leg on Tuesday.
Enrique has revealed that, while it is anticipated that PSG would defend as a team – “Even the world stars have to help defend” – he wants Mbappe to stay high up the pitch while the French giants are in control, maximising his capacity to harm Borussia Dortmund where it counts the most.
Dortmund locked Mbappe down in the first leg, resulting in minimal impact from PSG’s main man. He agonisingly hit the inside post at one stage but was otherwise too much of a periphery figure and coud only get on the ball in deeper areas.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Enrique said: “I don’t want the striker to go for the ball in midfield, I want the striker to touch the ball in critical areas and that’s difficult. I know you really want to talk about Kylian and I’m used to talking about Kylian. As an objective, we want to find our best players. Obviously our opponents are not going to leave him free at the penalty spot, they are going to let him touch the ball in midfield. I want him to go and touch it where he is dangerous.”
With this season’s Ligue 1 title already wrapped up, PSG are able to give sole attention on returning to only their second ever Champions League final. But they trail Dortmund by a 1-0 aggregate score-line going into Tuesday’s second leg in Paris. If successful, they would face two finals in the space of a week, with the 2024 Coupe de France final against Lyon on May 25 – seven days before the Champions League final at Wembley.
