��������

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique refused to complain about the mounting injuries affecting his team before Wednesday’s Champions League match at Barcelona.
Defending champion PSG will be without star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and forward Désiré Doué.
They are all out injured along with central defender Marquinhos, the club captain, while PSG have doubts over the fitness of key midfielders Vitinha and João Neves.
“You can either get results or make excuses. Whoever plays tomorrow is part of a real team,” Luis Enrique said Tuesday at a pre-match news conference. “We are lucky to have very good players in every position and to have the finances to recruit very good players. So, if there’s a coach who can’t complain, then it’s me.”
Luis Enrique is uncertain if he will pick Vitinha, who came off in the first half against Auxerre on Saturday, or Neves, who missed the past two Ligue 1 games with a thigh injury.
“We will see how the players feel when they wake up tomorrow. It is not a decisive game, so we are calm,” Luis Enrique said. “The decision will come more from the players than from me.”
PSG began the defense of their first Champions League title with a 4-0 rout of Atalanta two weeks ago.
But a Barcelona team featuring the inspired passing of midfielder Pedri, the mesmeric runs of winger Lamine Yamal, and the lethal finishing of veteran Robert Lewandowski — third all-time with 105 Champions League goals — appears a far harder proposition. Hansi Flick’s team was a Champions League semifinalist last season.
“Without doubt Pedri is like Harry Potter, I hope he doesn’t bring his magic wand tomorrow. We’ll do all we can to make sure he is the least involved possible,” said Luis Enrique, who won the Champions League as Barcelona coach in 2015 and played for the club as a standout midfielder.
“The two teams have the same philosophy and way of playing,” he added. “The key will be which team manages to keep the ball.”
Losing it exposes PSG to the counter-attacking of Yamal, who finished second behind Dembélé in the Ballon d’Or vote and caused havoc with his runs down the right flank in the competition last season.
PSG right back Achraf Hakimi said Yamal “will be playing against the best left back in the world” in Nuno Mendes.
“He is capable of stopping Lamine,” Hakimi said. “The important thing is not to leave (Yamal) one on one, so we will help (Mendes) out.”

BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Tuesday if teenage star Lamine Yamal is to improve he must focus on improving his work rate, ahead of the Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
The holders visit Barcelona on Wednesday and 18-year-old winger Yamal is keen to shine after finishing as runner-up at the Ballon d’Or gala last week, behind PSG’s Ousmane Dembele.
Yamal returned from a groin injury on Sunday against Real Sociedad in La Liga and provided an assist a minute after coming off the bench during a bright second-half cameo.
“(Calling him) super, super, super... I don’t like this... he’s 18 years old and for me he also has to focus on working hard,” Flick told reporters.
“It’s not always easy, with talent you can get to this point, but to reach the next level, one or two steps more — and I think he’s able to do that — he has to work hard.”
Last season Barcelona won a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, but fell just short in the Champions League, beaten in the semifinals by Inter Milan despite two sensational displays by Yamal.
Against Luis Enrique’s attacking PSG side Flick demanded Yamal and his team-mates knuckle down when the French champions are in possession.
“It’s not only about playing with the ball, it’s also defending,” continued Flick.
“This is what we need from every player — even a great player with the ball like him — and this makes the difference.”
Flick said to beat PSG his team had to concentrate from “the first second to the end of the match” and play at their highest level.

- Rashford has ‘arrived’ -

The coach also praised Marcus Rashford, who has established himself on the left flank for Barca.
With Raphinha out injured, Rashford is set to start against PSG. The forward, on loan from Manchester United, netted twice in Barcelona’s opening Champions League win at Newcastle.
“Everyone can see it in the last games, the Newcastle match gives him a lot of confidence and now he’s here, he’s now arrived in Barcelona,” said Flick.
“This is not always easy, to come to La Liga... with different opponents, a different style of how we play football, he’s adapted (well).”
PSG will be without first-choice attackers Dembele, formerly a Barca player, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, among other missing stars.
Barca midfielder Pedri said he considered his team favorites to win the game.
“PSG are one of the best teams in the world, and we are the best — or at least that’s how I see it,” he told reporters.
The French side beat Barca 4-1 the last time the teams met, in the 2024 quarter-finals, after Barca defender Ronald Araujo was sent off. PSG progressed 6-4 on aggregate.
“Every Barca fan knows that we were close to going through two seasons ago,” said Pedri.
“There’s always revenge in football and that’s what we want — it’s the kind of game that’s most enjoyable.”