PSG looks to bounce back after shock cup exit
Luis Enrique hopes that Paris Saint-Germain's shock early exit from the Coupe de France will serve as motivation for his team for the rest of the season.
Jonathan Ikone scored the only goal as Paris FC emerged a 1-0 victor at Parc des Princes, with PSG falling before the Round of 16 for just the second time in the past 20 years.
However, PSG is still well-placed to continue its success from the 2024-2025 campaign, with its next match seeing against Lille in Ligue 1 on Saturday (AEDT).
PSG sits second on the table, but knows a win will see it leapfrog current leader Lens, which faces Auxerre 24 hours later, and could establish a one-point advantage.
Luis Enrique urged his team to deliver a statement to reaffirm its commitment to competing on all fronts this term, apart from the Coupe de France, of course.
"After a defeat, everyone wants to get going again. We analysed the game," Luis Enrique said.
"We know we did everything to win against Paris, but sometimes you come up against a goalkeeper that stops everything. That's what football is like, but you have to keep going.
"We're playing on Friday against one of the best teams in the league, it's up to us to put in the necessary ingredients.
"It's important to know that we deserved to win the game. Clearly. We lost it, we accept the result, and we wished PFC good luck for the rest of the competition.
"But I hope it'll serve as motivation for us to give even more in the league and the Champions League."
Lille will, however, provide a stern test for PSG. Bruno Genesio's side has won seven of its past 10 Ligue 1 matches and is eying a return to the UEFA Champions League.
Its most recent league meeting with PSG came in October 2025, with Ethan Mbappe, the brother of former PSG star Kylian, scoring an 85th-minute equaliser to clinch a 1-1 draw.
"When we looked at Lille, we saw they do a lot of good things with and without the ball. There is a lot of quality," Luis Enrique added.
"We'll be at home, it'll be a good test to see how we handle things after losing. We hope we'll put in a good performance.
"We're playing a big team after a loss, and we know it'll be a tough match, it always has been every time we have played them.
"We want to win to keep moving forward in the league."
