Luis Enrique welcomes Ligue 1 challenge from Lens

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique acknowledged Saturday that Lens had made the French championship a two-horse race but said his side remained the best in Ligue 1 and added: “I like the pressure.”

Lens took over the league lead by one point when they edged Le Havre 1-0 on Friday night, but PSG can retake first place when they visit Strasbourg on Sunday.

“It’s clear, there’s Lens and there’s us,” said Luis Enrique at his press conference ahead of the trip to Alsace.

PSG won the league by 19 points last season for their fourth straight title.

“What has changed, compared to last season, is Lens. They are different. The rest is as usual.

“I like the pressure. If they want to put pressure on us, I like that. We are used to having this kind of pressure. We have to show tomorrow that we like this pressure.”

“Strasbourg have quality. For me, we’re the best team in the league, but we have to show it. We have to be able to win these games,” he said.

“You think we should win every game 3-0 or 5-0 like last season. But that’s not normal, it’s impossible, it was stratospheric. Expectations are higher. We want to make history, it’s not easy,” he said.

PSG will be without Fabian Ruiz, who has a bruised knee, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who has a sprained ankle.

PSG, who last year won the French Cup and the Champions League for the first time before heading to the United States to play in the Club World Cup, where they reached the final in July, have dealt with a string of injuries this season.

Luis Enrique said the players were not tired. There is “no deficit”, he said. “There’s the same fluidity.”

PSG finished only 11th in the Champions League first phase and must play an extra round where they have been drawn against Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.

“We’re going to play in the Champions League play-offs, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s important to have the number of matches we need,” he said, adding he was “very happy” to be facing Monaco.