Luis Enrique has played down the pressure ahead of his Paris St Germain side’s potentially pivotal Champions League clash with Manchester City.
The French champions host their English counterparts in a heavyweight tussle on Wednesday in which the stakes are high for both sides.
PSG go into the game outside the competition’s top 24 after suffering three defeats and collecting just seven points from their opening six league phase matches.
City’s position is almost as difficult, with Pep Guardiola’s 2023 winners having accrued just eight points from their own underwhelming campaign.
Defeat would leave either side in serious danger of missing out on the knockout stages but Enrique has refused to label the contest ‘must-win’.
The PSG manager said: “Why would there be pressure? This team never gives up and fights until the last minute.
“The reality is we should have won the games against PSV (Eindhoven) and Atletico (Madrid). With those (extra) five points we would already be qualifying for the next round.
“But I am very optimistic and confident. Is it a must-win game? The obligation is all the players give 100 per cent, and I take the same attitude every day.
“You can lose games, and that’s life. The most important thing is to be committed.”
Enrique and Guardiola were team-mates at Barcelona and for the Spain national team over several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Both have similar styles as coaches and have met four times, each claiming two victories.
Enrique told reporters: “It is a special match, not just because of the importance for the two teams, but because I will be up against a friend who I played with for many years and we crossed paths as coaches at Barcelona.
“I am delighted to be seeing Pep Guardiola again. In terms of what we have in common, it is our football ideas.
“I don’t think anyone can doubt our overall football philosophy in terms of being better than the opponents on the ball. Everyone has their own nuances but we have a similar gameplan.
“Both teams will try to employ our best weapons and we will see who is better prepared.”
PSG’s new signing from Napoli, the Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, is not yet eligible to play in the competition.
