The Rock before the summit.
Four days before the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Real Sociedad, PSG travels to Monaco, third in Ligue 1, for a real test against a team that has two wins and one defeat in the last three matches.
For this match, the Spanish technician will have to do without Marquinhos.
Hit in a calf, the Parisian captain should return to training on Saturday and his situation will be observed throughout the weekend.
Without him, Kylian Mbappé will make his last in the Principality and his name obviously came up during the press conference.
Just like those of certain potential candidates for his replacement.
In the last match Lucas Beraldo was in the center and Lucas Hernandez on the right.
What is your reasoning for choosing which position they will play?
LUIS ENRIQUE.
Both can play these positions.
These are players who provide guarantees in central defense or as a full-back and for me as a coach that is very positive.
The positioning depends on the match and above all on knowing in what position we will have the ball.
Hernandez has an easier time projecting himself but both can play this full-back role.
Beraldo is very quiet, they are two very good options.
What can the return of Nuno Mendes bring you?
Can he be aligned at the same time as Achraf Hakimi?
Sure why not.
Good players can always play together and we adapt to the players we have.
Nuno is very effective in his position and our goal is to get the best players playing together.
Now and with him, we have more choice.
He played more on the left, attacking a little less when defending.
For us, it is very interesting to have this option.
Kylian Mbappé will play his last match in Monaco this Friday.
What memory do you have of him when he started his career in the Principality?
I remember he was very young (he’s joking)!
I don't remember much about the Monaco of Kylian and Falcao.
I know they won a lot of matches but I don't know if they won a lot of titles.
Above all, we talk a lot about Kylian as a player but we have to talk about him as a person.
It is the most important.
You said that we had to learn to play without Kylian Mbappé after the match against Rennes.
Why was this truth important to tell for your players and PSG management?
For me it is a spontaneous reflection because it is a reality.
Everyone can interpret it however they want but I try to do what is best for the team.
We can criticize or think that it is a mistake, but I look for the best for the team even if it is not understood.
I want the best for the present and the near future.
Are you already preparing for next season?
We talk about the present and future of the team every day in relation to what we want to accomplish.
What I do as a coach is to benefit from all the players I have at my disposal.
But until things come to fruition I can't talk about it.
Rafael Leao is one of the players cited to strengthen PSG.
Is this a player that interests you for next season?
It's the name of a singer, isn't it?
(
laughs
) I don't want to discuss a player who is not in the club but if everything goes well I am convinced that next year we will have a much better team, physically, tactically, but also technically.
I have no doubt about that.
Are you following Xavi Simons' season at RB Leipzig?
And what do you think ?
He belongs to our club and of course we follow his journey as with all loaned players.
But I don't prefer to talk about him to respect the club he is in.
But of course, we have contacts, we follow him.
Do you like the evolution of the team in recent months?
And what are the positives and negatives?
If we look at our trajectory over the last six months.
We can see what we were doing on offense is evolving.
I think we can see all the efforts we have made and I am very happy with our results.
We are entering a difficult period because the players want to win titles and it is a delicate period.
Over the last three months, there are many more positives than negatives.
I always want to try to improve the team and I think there is always the possibility of doing that.
We have to be true to our philosophy and try to dominate the matches from the start.
No need to change the general idea but you need to improve the details.