Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Friday said he would never criticize his players for their lack of precision in front of goal, choosing instead to focus on the positives after his side drew 0-0 against AJ Auxerre.
PSG remained top of Ligue 1 with 34 points, eight ahead of Olympique de Marseille with a game in hand, despite playing out a second straight draw following last week’s 1-1 stalemate at home against Nantes.
While the Parisians were unable to capitalize on their dominance against newly promoted Auxerre, Enrique praised his side’s performance ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash against RB Salzburg.
Photo: AP
“It’s clear that the result does not reflect what happened on the pitch, but we were up against the second-best team at home. We have created many chances to score,” Enrique told reporters. “Obviously, the unfinished business is scoring goals, which is what wins games, but I have nothing to complain about my team, we have tried until the end, all we have to do is keep on trying.”
“This is a team that scores a lot of goals and creates a lot of chances,” he said. “Now we’ve had a series of games where we haven’t scored, especially in the Champions League, but on Tuesday we will go out and try to win.”
“If we are unlucky, I will never criticize my players for missing an opportunity to score, I just encourage them to keep building confidence and improve,” he added.
The French champions will be desperate for a win in Austria after a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich left them 25th in the 36-team Champions League table with four points and outside the playoff spots with three matches remaining in the first phase.
However, Enrique said PSG’s faltering European campaign is not causing any doubts as they are only focused on the games to come.
We have “a fish memory, the previous result doesn’t matter to me, there is only the Salzburg match,” the Spaniard said.
In Ligue 1’s other game on Friday, OSC Lille beat Brest 3-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SERIE A
AP, MILAN, Italy
Atalanta BC on Friday went to the top of Serie A when Ademola Lookman scored with three minutes remaining to beat AC Milan 2-1.
Atalanta’s ninth win in a row was a fitting gift to manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who was named coach of the month earlier in the day for guiding his team to a perfect record last month.
Charles de Ketelaere put the home side ahead with a towering header after 11 minutes only for Milan to level 11 minutes later.
Theo Hernandez released Rafael Leao on the right wing and his inviting cross was converted by Alvaro Morata.
Milan looked set to end Atalanta’s impressive run, but Lookman nipped in at the back post to nod home a corner in the dying moments.
Atalanta have 34 points, two more than SSC Napoli, who have a game in hand against SS Lazio today.
Elsewhere, Serie A champions Inter defeated Parma 3-1, extending their unbeaten run to 13 games.
Federico Dimarco put the home side ahead five minutes before halftime when he worked a neat one-two with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and fired a low shot past Zion Suzuki.
Nicolo Barella made it two eight minutes into the second half when he finished a fast counterattack with aplomb.
Marcos Thuram’s 10th goal of the season made it 3-0 in the 66th minute.
A Matteo Darmian own-goal gave some late consolation for Parma.
BUNDESLIGA
AP, STUTTGART, Germany
Nick Woltemade scored twice in the second half on Friday, while Atakan Karazor got a late winner as VfB Stuttgart came from 2-0 down to beat Union Berlin 3-2.
Berlin got goals from Danilho Doekhi after 37 minutes and Robert Skov two minutes into the second half.
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