Soccer Football - Trophee des Champions - Final - Paris St Germain v AS Monaco - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - January 5, 2025 Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique reacts during the match REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari
(Reuters) - Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique praised his team for starting the year on the right foot and said their 1-0 win over AS Monaco in the French Super Cup on Sunday thanks to Ousmane Dembele's last-gasp goal was well-deserved.
Dembele sealed the win for the French champions two minutes into injury time after PSG created 27 chances, nine of them on target, without breaking the deadlock.
"Today it was a very difficult game, against an opponent with very high quality players and a lot of attacking ones," Luis Enrique told PSG TV.
"We had... moments of domination and moments of defensive suffering, but I think that in the end the goal did justice to a team that never stops fighting, that continues to attack, that does not stop running, that does not stop defending.
"I think it is something very positive and that we must continue to value."
PSG won a record-extending 13th domestic Super Cup, having faced last season's Ligue 1 runners-up Monaco after the Parisians had won both the league and the French Cup.
"Winning a title is always a source of joy," the Spanish coach added.
"Starting 2025 this way, in an almost full stadium, with a lot of Parisian supporters in it... it gives us confidence, it's important for morale, and we have to enjoy it before thinking about the future.
"With the game idea that we have and the profile of our players, we must continue to grow as a team, to improve in any situation."
The French champions, who alongside Serie A side Juventus are the only unbeaten teams remaining in Europe's top five leagues this season, have not lost any domestic game since May last year.
Their three defeats so far in the campaign came in the Champions League.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
