PARIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain have not had as poor a start to a league season for 19 years, with Friday’s home loss to Monaco leaving themwinless after three matches in the Ligue 1 season.
Days before they begin the defence of their Champions League title, however, the Parisians have handed coach LuisEnrique a contract extension until 2030.
“There is no reason to be concerned. I say that honestly. How many shots on target did Monaco have? Two. How many goals? Two. We’ll see at the end of the season whether things balance out,” he said after Friday’s 2-1 setback in which they were ahead at halftime but conceded twice after the break.
“What I want to get across is that you shouldn’t look only at the result," Luis Enrique added. "We pressed sensationally, much better than in many matches when we did not concede a goal. But luck was not on our side.
“Monaco know that if they play against us like this 10 times, we win eight, there’d be one draw and we’d lose once. This was that one defeat,” Luis Enrique insisted as PSG look ahead to hostingSlovan Bratislava on Wednesday in their first Champions League group game, chasing a third successive European title.
Two points from three matches is their worst start since the 2007-08 season, when PSG came close to relegation, finishing 16th. In that campaign, Paul Le Guen’s side had to wait until their sixth league game to record a victory and ended up only three points above the relegation places.
This time round, the Parisians are already seven points off the pace.
“It is incredible motivation for my players, for the team and for the club. If you want to bet on who will be champions at the end of the season, we can place a bet. Seven points? OK, we will try to make up that deficit as quickly as possible,” the coach added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)
