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Luis Enrique has insisted Paris Saint-Germain’s motivation to retain their Champions League title is greater than Arsenal’s quest to be crowned European champions for the first time.
PSG demolished Inter 5-0 in last year’s final in Munich and are strong favourites for Saturday’s showdown at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. Arsenal have reached this stage for the first time since 2006, when they lost 2-1 to Barcelona in Paris, and Arteta caused a stir in the week when he said: “We will be European champions on Saturday.”
Luis Enrique refused to say if that declaration has provided his players with extra motivation but did say that the chance to become only the second team in the Champions League era to retain their title, after Real Madrid, and ninth in total is driving his players. “Yes, it is powerful,” said the Spaniard of Arsenal’s desire to win a first title. “But do you know how powerful trying to win the second one in a row is? It’s bigger. So we’re ahead. I don’t think there’s any better motivation than winning the Champions League. We will see tomorrow who is better – we both won our respective leagues and I’m going to focus on what is positive for my team. So that we can show the best of ourselves.
“It’s a source of motivation for us. We have already gone down in the history books as one of the best teams in Europe. But that’s what we’re looking for. You never know when you’re going to be back in the Champions League final and you have to make the most of it.”
Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi have been included in PSG’s squad for the final after recovering from injury, with Luis Enrique – who has won 11 of the 12 finals he has contested as a manager – expected to select 10 of the team that started in Munich 12 months ago. Dembélé’s participation was in doubt due to a calf injury but the France forward said he was never worried about missing the final and warned that PSG are itching to finish the job.
“We’re a young squad who are highly ambitious and we don’t want to sit on our laurels,” he said. “We know that it would be something historic if we can pull it off. If we want to be great players then these are the trophies that we need to be winning time and again.”
