Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique hailed his side’s record-breaking 5-4 win over Bayern Munich as the best match he’s ever been involved in during his coaching career.
The nine goals in Tuesday’s first leg in Paris made it the highest-scoring semifinal match in Champions League history and tied for the second-most goals in any knockout stage game in Europe’s top competition.
Luis Enrique’s coaching career has encompassed previous spells with Spain and Barcelona — where he led a team spearheaded by Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar — to Champions League glory.
Nothing, though, he said matches up to what he witnessed at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
“I have never seen a match with this kind of intensity,” Luis Enrique said (via ESPN). “This is not the time to point out flaws; we just need to congratulate everyone.
“We deserved to win, we deserved to draw and we deserved to lose today. It was a fantastic match. It has been, without a doubt, the best match I have ever been involved in as a coach.”
PSG built a 5-2 lead early in the second half thanks to two goals each from flying winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé at Parc des Princes.
Down by three goals, Bayern fought back brilliantly.
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Defender Dayot Upamecano’s header midway through the second half from Joshua Kimmich’s free kick gave Bayern hope, and Luis Díaz’s stinging strike made it a one-goal deficit heading into next Wednesday’s return leg in Munich.
Luis Enrique was exhausted just watching.
“I’m so tired, and I didn’t run a single kilometer,” he said. “So I don’t know how the players are feeling.”
He does not expect any respite next week.
“I just asked my staff, ‘How many goals do you think we will need to win this match?’ They said, ‘Minimum three.’ Bayern Munich in their stadium are even stronger, but we will try and show the same mentality.”
Spanish side Atlético Madrid hosts London club Arsenal on Wednesday in the other semifinal first leg. The final will be played in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30.
