PSG 'dead' unless they keep improving: Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said Friday his team will keep adapting and improving to pursue future success and if they failed to do so they would be "dead".
The European champions face German giants Bayern Munich on Saturday in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in Atlanta and the Spanish coach said they will not keep relying on the same system.
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PSG played an entertaining attacking style with three forwards on their way to Champions League glory, but Luis Enrique said one day he would diverge.
"We will change it because teams adapt -- in football there is nothing magical," Luis Enrique told reporters.
"When you overcome the press, your opponent adapts, when you create superiority in an area, your opponent adapts, there is no magic formula.
"There is no coach who has a system or a move, and that's it, that's the difficulty of modern football, all coaches are prepared, all players are better physically and technically than ever."
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"So you adapt, you improvise, and you become unpredictable for your opponent, or you are dead."
Luis Enrique said playing the same way that led PSG to a first treble this season would not suffice going forward.
"It's not enough to do what we've done this past season in the next, we have to change, we have to improve things," added Luis Enrique.
Bayern Munich beat PSG 1-0 in November in the Champions League group stage, before the French side found their stride and went on to triumph in the competition for the first time.
"We have a little bit of revenge to take, we know they're a tough team, but we're much stronger than in November," said Ousmane Dembele, who was sent off in Munich.
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"A lot has changed -- the players have clearly raised their level, I've raised my level too, and we have a lot of confidence. We know what we need to do on the field, we can beat any team."
The 28-year-old is a leading Ballon d'Or contender after a superb campaign, although has only made a brief cameo as a substitute in the Club World Cup thus far.
Dembele suffered a quadriceps injury during the Nations League at the start of June and came on in PSG's 4-0 romp against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami.
The forward said he is now "100 percent" fit but it is up to Luis Enrique whether he starts against Bayern at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"It's not the time to give information to my opponent -- we'll see tomorrow," said Luis Enrique.
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Associated Press
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Fox News
34 minutes ago
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From a beautiful Arda Guler cross, the manner in which Gonzalo opened his body up to caress the ball into the net was befitting of a seasoned striker than a player establishing himself in senior football. Alonso has continued to give the 21-year-old an opportunity, and has been rewarded with every time he has named him on the team sheet. 'I knew a lot (about him) because I've followed Castilla a lot,' Alonso explained last week. 'For me, it's not so surprising what he's doing. He reminds me of Raul in many ways.' The comparisons with Raul will undoubtedly continue if Gonzalo continues to put in performances like he has done. It is not just his clinical finishing or his fox-in-the-box actions, but his ability to run the channels well and rough up defenders, or use his youthful exuberance by pressing opposition centre-backs into submission. 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This time, it was an intelligent underlapping run from Alexander-Arnold to find left-back Fran Garcia at the back post for a first-time finish. ⚙️ Tactical class on full display. Real Madrid's right side combines brilliantly, and Trent delivers a perfect assist for Fran García's finish ⚪️🔥 — DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 5, 2025 Getting the buy-in from your players is crucial for any new head coach, but it is clear that Madrid are implementing Alonso's style in his early weeks — and doing so to great effect. Mark Carey Real Madrid were already the club who generate the most money on planet Earth, according to the Deloitte Football Money League published in January 2025, and the Club World Cup takes them into another galaxy. In the 2023-2024 season, Madrid became the first football team to record €1 billion in revenue in a single season. 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