Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Monday brushed aside criticism from Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele regarding a perceived lack of team spirit at the Champions League holders, ahead of their knockout-round playoff first leg against Monaco on Tuesday.

Dembele expressed frustration after PSG’s 3-1 loss to Stade Rennais, urging teammates to unite and stop playing for themselves. The defeat capped a difficult few months for the Parisians, who struggled to dominate Ligue 1 and failed to finish in the top eight of the Champions League.

“There’s always a lot of noise around PSG, and we have to accept it. That’s it,” Luis Enrique said at the pre-match press conference when asked about Dembele’s comments. The coach had also addressed the criticism after Friday’s match.

“The defeat by Rennes was cruel because if you consider what we created, it was similar to what we did against Marseille when we scored five goals. But we only managed one against Rennes,” he added.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s match in Monaco, Luis Enrique expressed optimism despite PSG’s 1-0 loss at the same venue in November. “We can expect a match similar to the one we played before. We’re not going to change anything because we’re going to try to win this match,” he said.

The coach also dismissed concerns about facing a domestic rival in the Champions League. “It’s football, it’s the same thing. You have to try to do the same thing to win the match. What I hope is to see the best version of PSG.”

Reflecting on last season, he added: “We started the Champions League with the same lack of efficiency, but the results later showed we were superior to our opponents. That’s what we’re aiming for again, and I’m sure we can get back to that very quickly.”

-Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis/Reuters