POISSY, France: Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique predicted his new-look side will shift up a gear in February now that they have secured qualification for the knockout round of the Champions League.
The French champions have moved on from the Latin American star duo of Neymar and Lionel Messi and Luis Enrique, who arrived in the summer, has established a youthful and disciplined line-up spearheaded by Kylian Mbappe.
The Qatar-owned side are now nurturing a less star-based approach to recruitment.
The former Barcelona and Spain coach predicted the Ligue 1 leaders would do even better after the winter break having “grown” in battling through their Champions League group.
“I have no doubt that we will be better, all my teams have been better over time,” he said.
“Big players will come back from injury by then and we are already among the best in the Champions League, whether in terms of chances created, shots on goal or possession,” he said, three days after a nail-biting draw at Dortmund sealed a place in Monday’s draw for the last 16.
PSG were drawn alongside the Germans, Newcastle and AC Milan in what was the toughest group on paper.
“The risk (of this difficult group) was to fail to qualify, but in terms of growth it was the best group we could have had.
It made us grow,” he insisted.
“I am deeply optimistic seeing how my players have behaved throughout these last few months.”
PSG take on Lille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, then host Metz in midweek before a three-week winter break.
The Parisians sit top of the table, four ahead of Nice in second and nine ahead of this weekend’s opponents.
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