Luis Enrique hails Ligue 1 quality ahead of Brest clashes
Luis Enrique praised the quality of Ligue 1 teams as Paris Saint-Germain face Brest three times in February, both in the league and Europe.
Luis Enrique praised the strength of Ligue 1 as Paris Saint-Germain prepare to face Brest on Saturday before their all-French Champions League play-off in February.
PSG will meet Brest three times in February, twice in the two-legged knockout play-off tie in Europe's premier competition, following their league clash on Saturday.
It will be just the second-ever all-French tie in the competition, after the clash between Lyon and Bordeaux in the quarter-finals of 2009-10 (3-2 Lyon win on aggregate).
Four Ligue 1 clubs made it through to the Champions League knockouts, with Monaco facing Benfica in the play-offs, while Lille secured an automatic spot after finishing inside the top eight in the league phase.
"The French league is not valued enough, yet there are four French teams in the Champions League now," Luis Enrique said.
"There will be at least two in the last 16. This is very important for Ligue 1, and I think it is an achievement worth talking about.
PSG beat Brest 3-1 in their home fixture in September and Luis Enrique's side are unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season.
Brest have only won 8% of their matches against PSG in the league (3/36), their lowest winning percentage against a current top-flight side. They have even gone 26 matches without a win against them (D8 L16).
"Brest are a great team that work very well together and had an exceptional level last year. This team executes its game plan very well," the Spaniard added.
"We are facing them away twice first and the Champions League is different - every mistake is costly there. Tomorrow will be another scenario. We want to keep our momentum going.
"We are top of the Ligue 1 table [but] Ligue 1 and the Champions League are two different competitions. We will have to perform well in both."
Luis Enrique heaped praise on goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who said on Wednesday that he wanted to extend his contract with PSG amid transfer links with Inter. His current deal with the Parisians expires next year.
"Donnarumma's words were very positive. We want players who want to play here," Luis Enrique said.
"When someone wants to belong to a club and represent a city like Paris, you need to have that drive because there will be many challenges."