PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique has a luxury of choice in deciding who to leave out of his attack against Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.
All of Luis Enrique’s forwards are fit, which is a welcome rarity for him this season, and the pressure is off his side considering it heads to the second leg in London with a 5-2 lead.
With Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé a certain starter, Luis Enrique must leave out either Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — arguably the best goal-scoring winger in the world — Désiré Doué — scorer of two goals in last year’s Champions League final — or the resurgent Bradley Barcola.
Kvaratskhelia made a big impact as a substitute in the first leg last week, scoring twice and assisting on Vitinha’s goal as PSG pulled away for a flattering win. The scores were level and Chelsea was looking dangerous until a 74th-minute blunder from goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen gifted PSG a lead it then embellished with Kvaratskhelia’s two late goals.
For his first goal Kvaratskhelia cut in from the left and bent a ferocious strike past Jörgensen.
Kvaratskhelia prefers playing on the left flank but that is where Barcola plays and his form makes him hard to drop.
“A lot of players change positions,” Dembélé said. “The coach likes players who play different roles.”
Barcola is a hard-working, pacy forward with good dribbling ability, and his physicality offers Luis Enrique the option of using him through the middle during games. Barcola struggled to get into the team earlier this season but has come back into the reckoning in recent weeks.
He opened the scoring with a fine finish against Chelsea and grabbed winning goals in the French league away from home against Le Havre and Auxerre. Overall, he has 11 goals in 37 games, compared with 11 in 35 for Kvaratskhelia, 12 in 27 for Dembélé, and nine in 28 for Doué.
With Dembélé assured of playing in his roaming center forward role, that means Kvaratskhelia is more likely to start on the right in place of Doué, who has not shown his best form during an injury-hit campaign.
Kvaratskhelia seems to save his best for the Champions League. Six of the Georgia star’s goals this season have come in the competition — the most for PSG along with Vitinha.
No easing up
Luis Enrique does not think a three-goal lead equals a comfortable game.
“There are four teams with three-goal (advantages). Let’s see how many will qualify,” he said, referring to Manchester City, Tottenham and Sporting Lisbon, who are all trailing by that margin. “It’s impossible to ease up in the Champions League, impossible. Chelsea will have chances.”
Last season PSG almost crumbled against Aston Villa in the quarterfinals, despite winning the first leg 3-1 in Paris and going 2-0 up in the return match. By the end PSG was clinging on at 3-2 down and narrowly avoided extra time.
“It was a clear example (of) what can happen in a football match,” Luis Enrique said.
Dembélé backed PSG to withstand any comeback.
“Luis Enrique used the word resilience, which characterizes our team. You have to know how to suffer in this competition,” he said. “Any team that has won it has suffered (like) we did against Aston Villa and Arsenal (in the semifinals last season).”
That does not mean PSG will prioritize defending.
“We can’t keep just sit in the last 15-20 meters and defend a lead,” Dembélé said. “Our mentality is always to win a match.”
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