Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has defended goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier after his Champions League error at Sporting Lisbon proved costly.
Chevalier’s weak parry in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday allowed Luis Suarez to score a 90th-minute header, as Sporting’s 2-1 win put holders PSG’s hopes of a top-eight finish at risk.
The former Lille goalkeeper has been tasked with succeeding Gianluigi Donnarumma – who helped PSG to Champions League glory last season before joining Manchester City – but has kept only two clean sheets in his last nine games.
“We have to be careful because players are criticised in the first year, no matter what they do,” Luis Enrique said ahead of Friday’s Ligue 1 trip to lowly Auxerre.
“That happened to Bradley Barcola, it happened to Desire Doue. It has happened to lots of players. It is normal.
“So you can see how hard it is to get into the rhythm here.
“It is normal to face criticism when you join this club, and you have to know how to handle it.
“I am really pleased what I have seen from all of our new players. There are no doubts (about Chevalier).”
PSG return to domestic action in second place and one point worse off than leaders Lens.
Auxerre are 17th and above bottom-placed Metz on goal difference.
“These are always complicated matches because they’re a team that needs points,” said Luis Enrique.
“They’re expected to play with a low block, which we’re used to. We’ll need to be precise because we know we’ll have very little space.
“But we’re scoring a lot of goals, and we’ve scored four more than at the same point last season.
“That’s something to be pleased about, and it makes me think we’re maintaining that momentum.
“Lens are keeping up an incredible pace. They have won 10 games in a row and that’s also why we’re not currently top of the table.”
Achraf Hakimi and Ibrahim Mbaye could both travel with the squad after Africa Cup of Nations duty with their respective countries, Morocco and Senegal.
“I’m going to talk to him to see how he’s feeling,” Luis Enrique said of Hakimi.
“He’s back and in normal shape. We’ll have to wait and see him on the training pitch. It’s always a very good thing to have players returning from international duty.
“I’m very happy for him (Mbaye). Playing in the Africa Cup of Nations must have brought him maturity. All of this proves that he has the level.”
