Last night, PSG came down from their cloud nine. Defeated by Botafogo (0-1) at the Club World Cup, the capital club suffered its first defeat since the Champions League final against Inter Milan. More generally, this season, Paris hadn't really experienced defeat (only two defeats in Ligue 1, but after securing the title). So naturally, this first poor performance of the 2025-2026 season quickly drew a reaction from the international press.
After the match, Botafogo owner John Textor also spoke out, explaining that PSG had come up against a team with heart. "PSG is the best team in the world. And they were probably the best team tonight. But we played with heart and maybe we wanted more tonight. It's a privilege for us to play against them in this format. To show that Brazilian teams can play football. We played like an English team today." On the PSG side, Luis Enrique , in a press conference, also gave a rather clear speech.
Luis Enrique is not worried
The Spanish coach, as he often does, did not want to fall into drama after this defeat and above all sent a message: nothing alarming at all in this Parisian defeat. "Am I surprised by this defeat? No. We knew it would be a difficult match, very close. Botafogo defended very well. We had the opportunity to score but we didn't and the match became more difficult. We know the difficulties of this competition. It's a very intense competition. Everyone is very motivated regardless of the team facing us, and especially against us. It was difficult to create scoring opportunities. It's a phase of the game that we know well but today we had complications ," he said before praising Botafogo's performance.
“Botafogo is the team that has defended best against us this season, both in the league and the Champions League. They acted as a unit, they were united. They managed to score a goal from Jesus (36th minute). We didn't generate as many chances as usual. We're used to playing against deep blocks, but it's very difficult. Congratulations to them. In terms of attitude, we were very good. The result shouldn't erase everything. We have to look at what we did well and what we can improve. For example, we conceded more transitions than in many matches. But in these tournaments, you have to perform at key moments. We weren't. This competition brings together a fairly balanced mix of the best from around the world. I think that in the future, this can be an international benchmark tournament to see what's out there. For me, as a coach, it's very interesting.” The message got through. No need to panic, nor are there any major lessons to be learned from this surprise defeat against Botafogo.
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