Luis Enrique says he is "tired of the Ballon d'Or" thirteen days before the verdict

Luis Enrique displayed frank exasperation over the Ballon d’Or during his pre-match press conference, thirteen days before the winner is announced.

“I am tired of the Ballon d’Or,” said the Spanish PSG manager, when asked about his players’ chances of winning the individual award. The coach did not, however, renounce his group’s ambitions: “What I hope is that we will win this trophy. We have players who deserve it. Last year, we won the best team award. We showed that not only Ousmane Dembélé deserved that.” Before concluding, a second time: “I am tired of the Ballon d’Or.”

Among the candidates cited in the debate are notably Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembélé, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, each with their arguments.

Luis Enrique also sought to put the excitement around Ferran Torres into perspective, who has scored seven goals in seven matches since arriving at the club. “There are different situations. Ferran Torres has scored many goals. It’s positive today after three matches, but if they don’t score it will be chaos,” he warned. He illustrated his point with a reverse example: “If players who don’t score like Mika Godts score a hat-trick, he will be the new Platini. You have to stay calm, that’s football.”

The manager finally addressed a message of realism to the young players in the squad: “What I tell the young lads when they come to train is: ‘Do you know where we are? You will be criticized all the time.’ That’s the life of top-level players, you have to get used to it.”