Paris Saint-Germain have two more games before the first leg of the UEFA Champions League tie against FC Barcelona. One of the games that can serve as preparation is the Coupe de France semifinal match against Stade Rennais on Wednesday.
The matchup will simulate the high pressure situation that PSG will encounter with the Catalan side on April 10. Ahead of the semifinal clash with Rennes, manager Luis Enrique answered a question as to whether he views Wednesday’s game as a rehearsal.
“This could be good,” Enrique told reporters (h/t Paris Fans). “It’s a 90-minute match without extra time. We’ll be playing for qualification. But we’ve been preparing for high-level matches since the beginning of the season. We did it in the group stages and throughout the season, even last Sunday in Marseille. Now, we’re getting ready for tomorrow’s match.”
Furthermore, Enrique intends to keep using the element of surprise to have the opposition on their toes. This past weekend, the Spanish manager had Ousmane Dembélé in midfield in a more central role.
As a result, making these tactical moves is one way to catch the opponent off guard, and moves like that will probably occur even more in these high stakes games. It will be interesting to see if this type of game plan works.
