PSG boss Luis Enrique disagrees with Pochettino over Newcastle-Chelsea assessment

The Spaniard was blown away by Newcastle’s pressing and physicality (Picture: Getty)

Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique says he was very impressed with Newcastle’s performance in their thumping win over Chelsea despite Mauricio Pochettino’s post-match comments.

The Magpies put their west London opponents to the sword at St James’ Park, delivering a particularly impressive second-half display to secure a 4-1 victory.

But Pochettino felt his Chelsea side had made it ‘so easy’ for Newcastle, branding his players ‘soft’, and even went as far as to say that the hosts ‘were not great’ despite the scoreline.

Luis Enrique had a rather different reading of the game, having been blown away by the way Newcastle harassed and harried their opponents, and says PSG will need to be at the top of their game to avoid another blow-out at the Parc des Princes this week.

Asked if matching Newcastle’s physicality will be key on Tuesday evening, Luis Enrique replied: ‘If you’ve seen the last match Newcastle played against Chelsea, yes, physically, it’s really incredible.

‘They’re very strong, they’re able to press hard and very high, there’s so much intensity.

‘Six players are putting so much pressure, they can pressure like eight players at the same time and this intensity and pressure in their game is something that we need to be prepared for.’

On how his side will approach the match, the Spaniard continued: ‘It doesn’t matter what team we are playing or what match, we have to prevent opportunities, we have to make sure to stay close to their goal.

Newcastle blitzed Chelsea in the second half of Saturday’s win (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s always the same thing, we want to remain in their half of the pitch and we have to make this match difficult for the other team.

‘We have to be really focused and clinical. We need to be clinical and we need to play at a very high level tomorrow to be able to win.’

On his side’s tactical set-up, he added: ‘No team plays, say, 4-2-4 or 3-5-2 all the time because it changes depending on where the ball is and the situation of the game.

‘The players’ positions change depending on the match, both with and without the ball.

‘When we press high without the ball, the defence is arranged in 3-4-3, 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. It also depends on the opponent.

‘When we withdraw defensively, we defend in 4-4-2 but sometimes in 4-5-1, again it depends on the opponent. I can’t give you a precise answer.

‘Tomorrow we will play in an attacking 4-3-3 since we always want to have possession of the ball. It would probably be simpler if I had a table to explain everything to you!’

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