Luis Enrique criticized Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona for playing “long balls” in a new documentary that follows his first season as PSG coach, during which they defeated the Catalans in the Champions League.
“Barça aren’t guaranteed to [dominate games], they haven’t in two seasons with Xavi,“ the PSG coach said in the documentary titled ‘No tenéis ni p–a idea (You have no f—–g idea)’, which will be aired by Movistar+ in Spain next Monday, per ESPN.
“It’s a lie to say Barça were better, that’s completely false,” he said, after his team lost the first leg of the quarterfinals tie 2-3 in Parc des Prince. “They played long balls. [Goalkeeper Marc-André] ter Stegen broke the record for long passes — I think it was 24. They play like Eibar. It was all long balls. Call it the third man if you’re a fan of Xaxi.”
He also criticized their defense: “They aren’t a dominant team and they are not a good team defensively, either. They defend with bodies but they don’t have quality in defense.” After losing the first leg, PSG came back with a 4-1 win in the second leg at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.
Luis Enrique and Xavi hug ahead of Barcelona-PSG second leg tie for the Champions League (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
The documentary also shows how the Spanish coach motivated Kylian Mbappe in an one-on-one talk. “You have to be a leader. You have to help us. Defend like a son of a b—h, lead by example, press… and we will be a f—–g machine,” he told him. While PSG was able to win the tie, they eventually were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the semifinal.
Luis Enrique said that Barcelona wanted him back
Luis Enrique also revealed that Barcelona, where he guided the team to a Treble in the 2014-15 season and claimed nine trophies over his three-year stint, contacted him regarding a potential comeback during the 2022-23 campaign.
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“They called [my agent Ivan de la Peña],” he explained. “I said to him: ‘Ask them what happens if Xavi wins LaLiga and the Copa, are they going to sack him?’ I already knew the answer,” he said.
