Luis Enrique presented himself at the press conference this Tuesday on the eve of Paris Saint-Germain vs. Newcastle United.

The Spanish coach welcomed the return of his injured players and repeated that finishing in the Top 8 was not an end in itself and that he was ready to finish lower if it still allowed his team to win the Champions League.

The Parisian coach also discussed the transfer window, Dro's arrival, and the great form of Warren Zaire-Emery. Here are his remarks in full, translated and transcribed by us.

To get over the small hurdle that your team still lacks, would you say your group needs a bit more confidence or a bit more pressure?

"Hello to everyone. Nothing, I spoke about a lack of confidence in the last match. Sometimes, when you analyze or judge a match, you can see that it's not the best moment, but that was only about that match. Nothing to add. We are arriving in this competition that we clearly love, and it is very positive and beautiful for us to be here. What I can say is that today's training session was of a very good level. And I am very happy to be here to prepare for tomorrow's match, in a competition that is very important for the club, for our supporters, and for us as a team."

Last week, you told us before the match in Lisbon that not being in the top 8 might not ultimately be so bad because PSG might need to be measured. Do you still hold that position on the eve of having to defend that top 8, precisely?

"Of course. I think the same. It is clear that for us, the objective is to qualify via the Top 8 and to try to win the match against a very good team like Newcastle, with a different style, but a very courageous team, physically very strong, and with many players of individual quality. We know Newcastle because we have played against them in recent years. It will be very difficult. We knew the difficulty before starting this league phase after seeing the draw. It is a key moment of the season, but the matches we will play later in the Champions League will be even more important. Because our objective is to win, but we are ready to face this match."

You were just mentioning the confrontation that took place in Newcastle, which is not necessarily a very good memory, but sometimes it is in those matches that you also learn to build. What exactly did you take away from that match? What are the lessons? How did you use it to help your group progress afterwards?

"That match, it was two years ago, two and a half years, I don't remember anything, except maybe the result. Negative results are normally very important because you can analyze, you can evaluate what the team did, all the mistakes. No team always wins, and there is no team that always loses. It's part of the journey you have to accept. Preparing for the match at 100%, that is our objective. I think we are arriving at a very good moment with the recovery of players. Having players returning is very important because we need to have all the players and the whole team, all together."

Regarding Achraf Hakimi, what did he tell you in the individual discussions you had planned this week? How did you sense he was? And physically, does he still have that minor physical issue you told us about, or is he at 100%?

"He has done the last two or three training sessions with the team. It's more of a physical or mental theme because each player, when they return, has a particular story. I saw Hakimi perfectly (to say in a perfect state). He did this last training session. Tomorrow, we will see, but I think he will be among the players who can be in the match."

We saw the new signing, Dro Fernandez, train for the first time with the team this morning. He arrived yesterday, but what could you perceive a little bit about this player, even though I imagine you knew his profile? What do you expect from him? How did he integrate? What can you tell us?

"Nothing, the same thing as for all players. Normally, we like to sign young players once we know they want to leave their club. That's what represents being open and being ready during the transfer window. We like quality players, and it is not easy to find them to improve our squad. I think in the future, Dro can be an important player. It is the moment to give confidence to all players, and it is important to remain open in the transfer window, something you have asked me many times. We are still open to be ready if there is a chance (to seize)."

I wanted to talk about Warren Zaire-Emery, who is the player you have used the most this season. With Achraf's return, what about Warren? Will he return to the heart of the game? Can he still be in the starting eleven? He has been perhaps one of the most solid players with you. What will you do with Warren Zaire-Emery in the upcoming matches?

"You have asked me many times to recruit a right-back, everyone, all the time. As I have experience and I don't let myself be influenced by anyone... that doesn't mean I don't make mistakes, I make mistakes many times. But you have seen a right-back of a very high level with Warren, it's incredible. To show this level, you must be a very special player and person. That is the case with Warren, who is a different player with an incredible personality. And for me, as a coach, it is very beautiful to have a player of this level. And at the moment, Warren can play full-back, can play midfielder, can play everywhere. And it is very positive for him as a player and very positive for me as a coach."

A question a bit more about your management. You project the image of a coach who is quite sure of yourself. But do you sometimes have doubts about your player choices, about your tactical choices daily?

"Can you repeat the word so I can learn? A doubt? No, a doubt no. I am talking about the definition you said before."

I said you were a coach, sure of yourself. (Luis Enrique is translated by the press officer)

"Ah, sure of oneself. I am sure of myself, but I don't think I'm incredible. No, I am like you. I lose many things. It's a message to pass on, especially to young people, because everyone has doubts, everyone has losses. There are no super-humans or very special people. Nothing. It is important to have this personal recognition to improve. But I have doubts, and I am very happy to have doubts in all positions. Today, the fact of recovering players means I have to make important decisions. And I am sure that tomorrow, there will be players on the bench who deserve to be starters. And it's unfair, but that's the life of a coach. And I am very happy to have these doubts."

We briefly mentioned the return of Achraf Hakimi. But there are other players who were not there at Auxerre and are also returning: Nuno Mendes, Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves, and others. Can you tell us more, and are you optimistic about their participation tomorrow?

"I hope so. Today, we had the last training session, and almost everyone is perfect. It's incredible. The Champions League is the best medicine (he says very precisely "it's the best medicine," ed.). When you play the Champions League, everyone recovers very quickly, everyone is ready! You ask the players, and they tell you, '100%, Mister, I'm ready.' It's normal because the competition is very motivating, and I repeat myself, but it's important to have that feeling, that sentiment."

I wanted to come back to versatility. What is the interest for you in having versatile players? We know it saves you money in the transfer market. A player can occupy three positions. It can improve a player, even for his national team. It can also drive competition. What are the other advantages of versatility for you concerning your squad?

"I think in our squad, there are many players who can do that. What I try to communicate to the players is that it's important. I can understand that you prefer to play in a concrete position, but it's very positive. It's very interesting. When you have players with this versatility during the match, you are not forced to make substitutions because you just change the players' positions. It offers the coach many possibilities. And when you have this chance, as I do, to have many players with this characteristic, it's incredible and very important for me. It's what I try to transmit to my players. It's difficult to have or see a team with many players with this characteristic."

Will one of the keys to the match tomorrow be the management of set pieces? Earlier, Pacho mentioned that Newcastle is an aggressive team in these phases of play.

"There will be different key phases of play. Set pieces are clearly part of it. But also, what type of match are we going to have? What type of match do we want to play? Because when you play against a team as physical and as strong as Newcastle, you must control or seek to control all phases of play. Especially in the last part of the match, because there is only one beautiful result for a team. I hope the last part of the match won't be crazy, because we do need control (he seems to mean the opposite, ed.). We'll see. But it will be different situations to manage."

So far, you have conceded 10 goals. That's still a lot in the Champions League compared to last time. Does that worry you?

"No, it doesn't worry me. It's football. I think everyone is going to analyze our team, but no one really talks about the quality of the team, the way we play, the decisions we make in the Champions League. We are used to playing against the most difficult teams all the time. So, we have never had an easy match in the end. You have to be calm, you have to analyze each thing. I really like to say that I love the way we have played. And we try to prepare in the best possible way to achieve our objective, to finish in the Top 8. Given our schedule, if we achieve this objective, it will be almost perfect."

You referred to the two matches against Newcastle about two years ago, particularly the away one, when you lost 4-1. Even though you have won the Champions League, do you have a feeling of revenge?

"No, no, no, I have totally forgotten that big defeat. It was two years ago, honestly. Many players have arrived, others have left. If I really have to analyze, I can say that both teams still have the same coach. The last match against them, and I remember it, we drew at home. I remember that match. We play much better than at the time, but it's going to be complicated, for sure. It's a great team. But at the same time, we are quite confident. We will need to defend at a very high level. But the key for me, really, is to try to play normally, with our weapons, with our talents. And that's the key for me."

I had already asked you this question last season, and now we are arriving at the last matchday of the league phase. If you could repeat the performance of a certain previous match for the team to win tomorrow, which match would you choose to repeat?

"I'm going to change the question, because I have a lot of experience. Us, if we win tomorrow, we could be 6th, 7th, but in the top 8. But I would sign for a defeat or a draw, to finish 15th like last year. And if you tell me that I finish 15th, but that I win the Champions League afterwards, I'll sign right away. Because the real Champions League begins in the knockout phase, and in that phase, we are an incredible team. So I would sign, for myself, to be 15th by losing or drawing tomorrow, if afterwards we win the Champions League, because that is our objective since the competition started."

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