Arsenal will be underdogs in the Champions League final later this month, where they will face PSG and Luis Enrique, but he is also aiming to win his third European Cup as manager.
Luis Enrique led PSG to the Champions League last season (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Gary Neville believes Luis Enrique is poised to become a “godlike manager” if he wins back-to-back Champions League titles with Paris Saint-Germain.
The Parisians are aiming to become only the second team in the Champions League era to retain the crown, with only Arsenal standing between them and that achievement. The French side have been active in the knockout stages and are considered favorites to be their opponents in the Premier League.
PSG defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in the final 12 months ago to win their first European title and beat the likes of Liverpool and Bayern Munich to reach the final again.
Enrique can join a special group of managers to win back-to-back European Cups. Zinedine Zidane is the only man to have achieved this in the last 35 years. Even the likes of Josep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson have never done it, and Neville insists the PSG manager can further etch his name into history.
“It feels like this is the moment when PSG wins back-to-back titles and Luis Enrique elevates himself alongside all the divine managers who have done this,” he said on his podcast.
read more: UEFA warns Arsenal fans as travel and ticket disruption looms ahead of Champions League finalread more: NBA star criticizes Arsenal’s tactics, claims “Champions League final is not fun”
On the challenge facing Arsenal, he added: “In the Champions League final, they have to think about their defensive ability and strength and how they can beat a team that is better than them in 90 minutes.”
“You can’t escape from that because PSG are better than them. PSG are a better team than Arsenal at the moment and they’ve proven that in the last two seasons. It’s a chance for Mikel Arteta to go to a new level, because winning the Champions League would be an incredible thing.”
PSG defeated Arsenal in the semi-finals last season (Image: PA)
“It’s great to win the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, but it would be incredible to win the Champions League as well. It feels like the perfect moment for Arsenal to win the Premier League, but it doesn’t feel like the perfect moment to win the Champions League.”
PSG, like Arsenal, will hope that success in the European Cup will be part of an impressive double, alongside the league title. In the past, the leaders of managers who went on consecutive trips to Europe included Nottingham Forest’s Brian Clough and Liverpool’s Bob Paisley.
Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive daily Mirror Football content. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
