While Paris Saint-Germain just lost a match, it had everything to win; it was a very paradoxical Luis Enrique who presented himself at the press conference, since he was "proud" of his team's performance and "confident in the future." Here are his complete comments.

How do you explain such a defeat? It feels like you played a rather good match collectively. But how do you explain that you ultimately ended up losing it?

"It's very easy to explain. That's football. For me, it was clearly the best away match of this season. We overcame the opponent, a very good opponent, but today, for me, there was only one team on the pitch, and we clearly deserved to win this match. But football is like that. It's disappointing, very unfair, and that's all I can say. It's clear, and matches are indeed won when you score goals. It's clear. But in this case, I must say I am very proud of my players, of the team. This is the pressure and the personality we need to play away from home. I am very confident about what the future will be because with this character, we are ready to be competitive, no matter the stadium."

Just at the end of the match, after Kvaratskhelia's goal, in the last 7-8 minutes, we saw lost balls and nervousness. Do you think the fact of having brought on Ilya (Zabarnyi), of having moved Warren (Zaire-Emery) back to midfield, destabilized the team a bit? Or maybe the choices? Or maybe the nervousness? I don't know. We didn't recognize your team's calm; even you, you seemed a bit annoyed at the end.

"We made the last change because Fabian (Ruiz) was injured and we had only 4 or 5 players on the bench. There are problems all the time, don't worry, it's the coach's problem, I'm here to answer for that. It's my responsibility. But I am very encouraged by what I saw. And the final frustration is because I understand my players, they were also superior to the opponent, a very good opponent, we saw play very good football. Today, there was only one team on the pitch, it's Paris Saint-Germain. We lost because it's sht football! It's a sht sport! These are incredible nights. And when you are a coach, you see how this sport can be so unfair. But that's it, you have to accept it. I have lost many times this way.

And if I remember correctly, in recent months, we have lost three matches: against Paris FC in the Cup, another one I don't remember (Monaco), and today's match. And Bilbao too (0-0). In Bilbao, too, we were much better than the opponent, and we drew. It's Ok. I am used to that, and it's frustrating because, when you don't deserve the result, and the opponent does everything opponents do when they score first, the referee doesn't add time (ed. note: he complains about the end of the match, Sporting scored and celebrated at length, but no added time was given). It's a little bit frustrating, and I can understand my players.

But I would like to do so today, and I know you like results and criticism, so I would like to congratulate my players. I am very proud of what I saw. And for me, this is the way to go very far in this competition, and that's what I hope."

Precisely, how were your players at the final whistle and in the locker room? A defeat with this scenario can perhaps hurt a bit mentally.

"No. We are used to it. We know clearly. I repeat myself. I cannot be prouder than today of what I saw; we controlled the whole match. With our high pressure, they did not have more than three or four shots against us, with a lot of luck. They are a very good team, and I would like to emphasize that. But today, for me, there is only one team, and we lost the match, it's incredible."

We remember that last year, what made the difference was that in the decisive areas, the players, whether the goalkeeper or the attackers, were confident. How do we accelerate a process with the players to give them back that confidence? Knowing that tonight, what was missing, indeed, was perhaps a bit of decisiveness in the two decisive areas.

"We scored, I think, two goals, which were disallowed. I can understand that, perhaps, it's fair, but we did everything. I can tell my players, we controlled the match, we were aggressive in defense, we were calm and with the tranquility we needed to play at this level, and we dominated the match from the beginning until the end. And perhaps in the last five minutes, the frustration causes us to make mistakes, and I can understand that frustration because I was frustrated myself on the bench.

But it is so undeserved that there is no lack of confidence. I think the team is ready for any opponent. We are ready to play. If we have to play the playoff, no problem, no worries. We are ready, clearly. And it's the same as last year. But last year, again, when it happened, no one had confidence in us. Today, the players, the team, our supporters, everyone knows what type of team we are, and we are ready to show that during this competition."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed to me that Sporting played with a low block. Often, the best solution, precisely, is to shoot from a distance. It seemed to me that Paris Saint-Germain shot very little from distance until Kvaratskhelia came on, who, indeed, scored the goal. Do you agree with this analysis?

"We talked before the match about the different ways to overcome a team that is in a low block, and shooting is clearly one of them. I think we didn't shoot a lot, but enough to win this match. Normally, to face a low block, you must know where the spaces are. Normally, they are not in the center; you must progress down the wings to get to crosses. But of course, there are things to improve in this match, and perhaps that's it, the shots, which are one of the solutions.

But I think, and I repeat, today, I am very proud of what I saw, of my team's personality, and I am very courageous in seeing how our team plays in the competition. But football is like that. We must congratulate Sporting Portugal. But for me, it's a very, very, very unfair result."

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