Happy to have lifted another trophy but very clear-eyed about his team’s performance, Luis Enrique faced the media after PSG’s Trophée des Champions victory over Marseille (2–2, 4–1 on penalties). The PSG coach spoke about the match itself, the penalty shoot-out mastery, and individual performances — notably Lucas Chevalier and Gonçalo Ramos. Here are his full remarks.
Why is PSG so strong in penalty shoot-outs?
“Some people say it’s luck — and maybe there is a bit of luck.
But today, I think all goalkeeper coaches and all the staff around goalkeepers have information on opposition penalty takers.
We have very good players to take penalties and also top-level goalkeepers, like Safonov and Lucas Chevalier.
This combination is fantastic for us.”
On the match itself
“We kept fighting until the last minute”
“If I talk about the match, I think we started it well. We played well in the opening minutes, scored first, and things were going in the right direction.
But after that, Marseille played very well. Maybe even better than us. With the ball and without it, they have many quality players, and also a very good coach in De Zerbi.
Maybe they deserved more than us — but football is like that.
We were able to keep fighting until the very last minute. That’s something we always show when we face difficulties, and it’s part of this team’s DNA.”
On Gonçalo Ramos, the equaliser
“I don’t want to talk only about him — the whole team deserves credit — but Gonçalo Ramos is a soldier.
Whether it’s to play one minute, not play, or start a match, he is always ready.
He has the character, mentality, and personality to always give 100 percent.
We’re very happy to have a player like Gonçalo Ramos.”
On Lucas Chevalier
“I think he played a very good match. He made actions of great merit.
The match was physically demanding for the whole team, but in the penalty shoot-out he showed his quality and was decisive for us.”
Does winning finals give PSG an edge in penalties?
“Given how the match went, we could feel penalties coming.
After the 1–1, when the score was level, they maybe had more energy than us.
But after we scored our second goal, reaching the shoot-out became a special motivation.
At that moment, yes, you need luck — but also quality.
And we’ve shown many times that we are a team that fights like our supporters, until the very last minute.
We’re happy to give this victory to them.”
Did this feel like a real final?
“It was very difficult for us to press”
“For everyone who watched this match in Kuwait, it was an open game with a lot of intensity.
Marseille played very well with the ball. It was very difficult for us to press the way we usually do.
And when we had the ball, they defended very well, very high.
It was difficult. They showed they are a good team, with a very good coach.”
Back to ChatGPT…
Asked again by the same journalist who mentioned ChatGPT before the match, Luis Enrique smiled:
“I must say that ChatGPT got it right — it works perfectly.
But it was a very hard match. Very difficult.
We expected this kind of game because they have players with strong individual and collective quality.
We are very happy because we fought until the end, like our supporters.
We can give this trophy to our fans and our club.
We’re happy. We want to keep winning. But it’s difficult, and we must improve.”
A future collaboration with ChatGPT?
“No, no (laughs).”