Paris Saint-Germain produced the most ruthless away performance in their European history on Tuesday night — and Luis Enrique shrugged it off within the hour. After the holders thrashed Villarreal 6-0 to stay perfect at the top of the Champions League league phase, their coach insisted the records, the goals and the table "doesn't mean anything" yet.
PSG were 4-0 up inside 17 minutes at La Ceramica, on their way to a sixth goal and a fourth straight win. Joao Neves, Desire Doue and Senny Mayulu struck early, Fabian Ruiz scored twice and David Boly completed the rout — yet the man in charge refused to treat any of it as evidence that a third straight European crown is coming.
'There Will Only Be One Champion in Madrid'
"This doesn't mean anything," Luis Enrique told reporters, in comments reported by SoccerNews. "There will only be one champion in Madrid. We spent the last two years outside the top eight and we were champions. I'm happy to see the team's ambition. In February and March, we'll have to prove everything."
The numbers he was dismissing are extraordinary. PSG are the first team in Champions League history to score four or more goals in four consecutive games in the competition, and their 20 goals in four matches are the fewest games any side has taken to reach 20 in a single campaign. They have won 10 consecutive games in all competitions, and became only the second team on record since 2003-04 to register 10 or more shots on target in four straight Champions League matches, after Real Madrid between December 2013 and April 2014.
Luis Enrique explained the relentlessness rather than apologising for it. "I don't like such a scoreline, but we always want to respect the opponent by sticking to the same way of playing," he said. "In football, I have seen teams score three goals in five minutes. There is no safe score in a game." Speaking to Canal+, he added: "There are matches that start like this, we've been impressive the whole time. We're happy, but it's difficult for Villarreal because it's hard to play against a team that presses all the time. We have to stay calm."
Sympathy for a Devastated Villarreal
For Villarreal, the night entered the record books for all the wrong reasons. They conceded six goals in a European match for the first time ever, and became the first Spanish side to concede six in a European home game. They sit 29th in the 36-team standings with just three points from 12.
"We're doing badly, devastated," Villarreal coach Inigo Perez said. "We started the way we wanted, we tried to get people excited. But then we hit rock bottom and the blow was insurmountable. We haven't even managed to get close to them." Luis Enrique, as Africa Soccer reported, closed with warm words for the hosts: "Villarreal are a team I really like. It is a difficult situation, and I feel sorry for them."
So What: The Bar PSG Have Set for Themselves
Luis Enrique's message is deliberate, and it is aimed at his own dressing room. PSG won this competition in each of the last two seasons without finishing in the league phase top eight, so he knows better than anyone that November form guarantees nothing in the spring — and that a squad being praised for a record win in November can drift if it starts believing its own headlines. The same Tuesday night that Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 showed how crowded the top of this table is: PSG lead it, but six teams sit on nine points behind them.
The test now is whether the holders can keep this intensity when the injured stars return, when the knockout draw stops being kind, and when February and March arrive — the months Luis Enrique himself named. On this evidence, with goals coming from midfielders, teenagers and substitutes while big names sat out, depth will not be their problem. Complacency was the only opponent he talked about all night.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is what elite standards sound like. A coach who has just watched his team score six away from home in the Champions League — with a squad missing key players — spent his press conference warning everyone that it counts for nothing, because he has lifted this trophy twice from outside the top eight and knows exactly where seasons are won. Lesser managers would have framed the record. Luis Enrique framed the final. That refusal to celebrate November is precisely why PSG remain the team to beat in May.
Is Luis Enrique right to play down the records — or are this PSG side already better than the one that won it last season? Have your say in the comments.
