“I have faced some great coaches like Guardiola, Klopp and Ancelotti but Enzo Maresca did something I’ve never seen in my coaching career, too bad he wasn’t able get past me”: PSG coach Luis Enrique names ONE thing Enzo Maresca did which he has never seen in his professional football career.
“I Have Faced Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti – But Enzo Maresca Did Something I’ve Never Seen Before”: Luis Enrique Reveals the One Unique Tactical Move That Shocked Him in PSG’s Clash With Maresca’s Side
In a remarkable show of respect and reflection following a tightly contested European clash, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) head coach Luis Enrique has opened up about an experience that caught him completely off guard — and it wasn’t against Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, or Carlo Ancelotti. Speaking candidly in a post-match interview, Enrique lavishly praised Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca, calling him one of the most tactically inventive minds he’s faced and revealing that the Italian manager pulled off a tactical maneuver that Enrique had “never seen before” in his entire coaching career.
The comments came after PSG narrowly defeated Maresca’s Leicester in a dramatic European knockout fixture, where the Foxes pushed the French champions to their limit. While Enrique was ultimately the victor, the former Barcelona and Spain national team coach seemed visibly impressed — even slightly unsettled — by Maresca’s strategic ingenuity.
> “I have faced some great coaches in my career,” Enrique said. “Pep Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti… these are some of the best minds in modern football. But what Enzo Maresca did today — I’ve never seen it before. It was bold, it was unexpected, and it forced us to think in real time. Too bad for him that it wasn’t enough to get past me.”
—
⚽ Who Is Enzo Maresca, and Why Is Enrique So Impressed?
Once a promising midfielder and now a rising star in coaching circles, Enzo Maresca is part of a new wave of tactical innovators reshaping European football. Having previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as part of the backroom staff, Maresca is steeped in positional play, vertical passing systems, and high-tempo pressing.
But what surprised Enrique wasn’t just Maresca’s adherence to modern principles — it was how he radically adapted those principles into a previously unseen tactical gambit, executed mid-game and with minimal warning.
—
🔍 The One Thing Maresca Did: A Goalkeeper as a Second Pivot
According to Enrique’s post-match breakdown, Maresca instructed his goalkeeper — Mads Hermansen, in a jaw-dropping tactical twist — to step into midfield and act as a second pivot during sustained periods of possession. While modern keepers like Ederson, Neuer, and Onana are known for playing high off their line and acting as sweepers, this move went several steps further.
> “At one point,” Enrique explained, “the goalkeeper wasn’t just distributing or sweeping — he was standing side by side with the holding midfielder, splitting the press and initiating moves from deep. It looked like something out of a simulation. We couldn’t press the way we usually do because we had an extra man to account for in a zone no keeper typically occupies.”
This unique in-game evolution forced PSG to rethink their pressing triggers and delayed their usual aggressive build-up disruptions. It gave Maresca’s Leicester a numerical superiority in midfield during build-up play — a brilliant, if risky, method of controlling tempo against a dominant opponent.
—
🤯 Why This Was a Tactical First for Luis Enrique
For a coach of Enrique’s experience — who has led Barcelona to a treble, managed Spain to a Nations League final, and faced tactical titans across Europe — to admit he has never encountered a tactic like this, speaks volumes. While many coaches innovate in small doses, Maresca’s move was visibly game-changing and had the tactical community buzzing.
Even Guardiola, known for his positional play, has rarely if ever deployed a goalkeeper as a fixed pivot. This wasn’t just a sweeper-keeper role — it was a hybrid between Manuel Neuer and Sergio Busquets.
> “I don’t know if it’s sustainable for a full season,” Enrique remarked, “but in that moment, for those 25-30 minutes, it disrupted everything we planned.”
—
🗣️ Reactions from the Football World
Football analysts and tacticians quickly took to social media to analyze Maresca’s move. Renowned pundit and former coach Arrigo Sacchi described it as “tactical insanity that almost became genius,” while Thierry Henry, speaking on live broadcast, said:
> “You think you’ve seen it all — and then a guy turns his goalkeeper into a regista. Maresca is wild.”
Meanwhile, fans from both Leicester and neutral clubs praised the courage behind the tactical risk. Even though it didn’t result in victory, it marked Maresca as one of football’s most daring thinkers.
—
🚨 The Final Result: Maresca Falls, but Legacy Grows
Despite the tactical masterstroke, Maresca’s Leicester narrowly lost the tie, with PSG advancing thanks to a late goal from Kylian Mbappé. But for many, the real victory was Maresca’s audacity and innovation, proving that tactics are not just about structure, but about surprise, boldness, and confidence.
Luis Enrique’s admiration, while wrapped in competitive pride, was also a clear signal to the world: a new generation of coaching minds has arrived, and Enzo Maresca is among the most intriguing.
—
🧠 Final Thoughts: The Beauty of Tactical Evolution
Football is often seen as cyclical — formations repeat, trends recycle. But every so often, a coach dares to break the mold, challenge the norm, and create a new tactical language. Enzo Maresca did just that, and although he didn’t walk away with the win, he earned something perhaps more important: respect from one of the game’s greatest minds.
Luis Enrique’s words may have been laced with competitive flair — “Too bad he wasn’t able to get past me” — but they came from a place of genuine admiration. And in a sport where innovation often comes at the risk of ridicule, that kind of praise is priceless.
