Enrique dismisses talk of PSG being the favorite against Aston Villa

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique shrugged off talk of his team being the favorite against Aston Villa ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal match Wednesday.

While PSG has been a regular in the last eight since cash-rich Qatari investor QSI bought the club 14 years ago, and reached the semifinals last season, Villa has not been in this stage of the competition since 1983 — a year after winning the European Cup.

“People said we had no chance against Liverpool (in the round of 16), so in my mind there is no such thing as favorites," Luis Enrique said at a news conference Tuesday. "It's a very open and difficult match for both sides. I know it will be intense.”

PSG wrapped up a record-extending 13th Ligue 1 title on Saturday with six games to spare. Villa is pushing for a top-five finish in the Premier League to get back in the Champions League and is on a seven-game winning run heading to Paris for the first leg.

Luis Enrique, who guided Barcelona to the treble in 2015, is bracing himself for a tactical headache against a Villa side coached by Spanish countryman Unai Emery.

“Their strong point is their versatility, so it's hard to figure out how they're going to play. They can play with a low block (and) they bring the ball out brilliantly," he said. "Their biggest strength is how they attack from the back and reach the second line of attack quickly. It then becomes very hard to contain when teams are breaking from midfield.”

Emery is a respected opponent from the days when both men were coaching in Spain. Emery won the Europa League a record four times — three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal — and guided unheralded Villarreal to the Champions League semifinals in 2022.

“He deserves more recognition because he's a great coach with limitless energy," Luis Enrique said. "He probably already knows everything I am planning to do.”

For his part, Emery was full of praise for PSG, describing the French team — which he coached from 2016-18 — as one of the four favorites to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

“We are facing PSG after they beat Liverpool, who I think were the favorites before, and they beat them playing fantastic football,” Emery said.

“How we face them, how we show our capacity and potential to respond to everything they demand of us, tactically, individually, with the players they have, is a huge challenge for me and for my players.”

Villa could line up with attacking midfielder Marco Asensio, who is on loan from PSG. So Luis Enrique was asked if he has a problem with the fact Asensio is free to face PSG.

“On the contrary, I am delighted that Marco can play," he said. "I know him perfectly well, he's a player of the highest level, with great technical ability.”

Although PSG is unbeaten in domestic soccer this season, the last three matches have all seen sloppy first-half performances. Luis Enrique looked stunned when his side fell 2-0 down inside the first 30 minutes against second-tier Dunkerque last week in a French Cup semifinal, and he warned his players about lapses in concentration.

“The Champions League does not allow you to switch off for one second," he said. "You can't reach the quarterfinal without being completely focused.”

PSG will be without captain Marquinhos due to suspension for the first leg, and the defense remains vulnerable to set-pieces and corners.

They will also have to get past Villa's larger-than-life goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who traveled to Paris on Tuesday wearing a cap that appeared to display a rooster — a French national emblem — along with trophies he has won with Argentina's national team. Martinez was the goalkeeper when Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final in 2022.

“He is mature, he is responsible,” Emery said of Martinez. “He is getting better controlling his emotions.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Douglas contributed to this story. ___

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