Luis Enrique has warned Paris St Germain’s Ligue 1 rivals that his side can only improve in the second half of the season.
The reigning champions have taken 36 points from their first 15 games of the season, winning 11, drawing three and losing only once, and travel to Lille on Sunday having won their last eight games in the league.
Warren Zaire-Emery’s second-half strike also salvaged a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund in midweek to ensure PSG advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League as runners-up in Group F.
However, Enrique feels there is more to come as they prepare to face a Lille side who are unbeaten in their last 14 matches in all competitions and have kept five consecutive clean sheets.
“I have no doubt that we will be better in the second half of the season,” Enrique said in his pre-match press conference. “All my teams have been better afterwards.
“We will regain players who were injured, but we also have the possibility of buying other players if needed. I have no reason to be pessimistic.
“When I see what we have accomplished in the first part of the season, I can only be positive.
“Lille have been unbeaten for a long time and are a team that plays quite like us. They have a very good coach [Paulo Fonseca], I admire the style of football he plays.
“They can cause a lot of problems for the opposition. They play well both with and without the ball, they have a very good defence, they’re aggressive. They’re one of the best teams in the league.”
PSG’s place in the last 16 of the Champions League was up in the air in the final round of group fixtures, with AC Milan and Newcastle poised to take advantage of any slip up.
That looked a possibility when Karim Adeyemi fired Dortmund in front early in the second half and Newcastle held a 1-0 lead over Milan, but Zaire-Emery quickly equalised for PSG and Milan fought back to win 2-1 and secure a Europa League berth.
“We gave our all in every match and we faced top opponents,” Enrique said of his side’s Champions League campaign to date. “Our stats were good.
“We are positive and optimistic, we know that there will be other big matches. We always want to improve, it’s the club’s objective.
“This group in the Champions League has helped us to grow, there were some very good opponents, worthy of the round of 16 or quarter-finals.”
