'The star of the team is Luis Enrique' - Owen Hargreaves praises impact of Paris Saint-Germain manager after Champions League win over Aston Villa
Published 16/04/2025 at 00:18 GMT+1
Owen Hargreaves has heralded Luis Enrique, calling him the star of the PSG team that held off Aston Villa to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Joe Cole added that Enrique was one of the most underrated managers in world football and noted that the 54-year-old laid the foundations for Spain’s success at the Euros. PSG await the winner of Arsenal and Real Madrid in the last four.
PSG boss Enrique on 'difficult' win over Villa - 'I'm not going to forget that match'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Owen Hargreaves labelled Luis Enrique "the star of the team" after his Paris Saint-Germain side progressed to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
The French champions were beaten 3-2 at Villa Park but won 5-4 on aggregate to set up a last-four tie with Arsenal or Real Madrid.
And Hargreaves claimed much of PSG's success has been down to the influence of Luis Enrique.
"Credit Aston Villa but PSG, they hung in there, they looked like they were on the ropes," Hargreaves said on TNT Sports. "They could have gone out, they found a way to get the ball back and found a way to get through.
"This is a young team. The star of the team isn’t a player anymore, it’s Luis Enrique. This has become a proper team together and that’s what gets you to a semi-final to win big trophies.
"Before, they carried [Lionel] Messi, Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappe at times and now they are doing it as a group. It's amazing to see what they have been able to achieve."
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Highlights: Villa comeback in vain as PSG progress to semis
Video credit: TNT Sports
Cole was equally complimentary of Luis Enrique, highlighting PSG's move away from individualism to a more collective approach.
"I was concerned a few years ago when they bent over backwards to give Kylian Mbappe this contract, and noises coming out then that he was involved in who was coming and going, the signing of Messi - I know they won the league title with him, but it didn’t quite work," he said.
"We watched them play in that spell, and it was incredible to watch. Imagine being the seven lads that had to do the defending and watching the three standing up there and not doing it. You can’t win a tournament like that.
"PSG proved that you can’t win the Champions League without everyone being at it. So credit to the people at PSG who came together and went 'we are going in this direction now'.
"We get the right manager in in Luis Enrique, now we are going to get the right players, the right recruitment and they are all on the right path, and I really really fancy them to win it, I really do."
Cole added: "They [PSG] are the most athletic team left in the competition, and I think what’s hindered them in the past is where they have won the league at a canter, they sort of fell off in these big moments.
"The league is going to be sewn up but I think this group of players look so strong. I’ve not seen them this strong at this stage in the season, they were always filtering off.
"Iron sharpens iron. When you aren’t playing the best teams and then all of a sudden you have to go two legs with a prime Liverpool, or a prime Real Madrid, sometimes to lift yourself after a long season is hard, but they are getting something right and I think Luis Enrique is one of the most underrated managers.
"He put the foundations in place for the great Spain side that won the Euros, he puts down the foundations and I think he’s come into PSG and he’s come in at the right time."
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