The game and his team’s performance: “Of course I would like it to always be like this, but there are a lot of surprises in football, the coaches have to accept that the team can play badly. On the other hand, I want the attitude to always be the right one, and that has been the case in our matches so far. (…) What I liked the most was the courage of the players against the high pressing of Lens, one of the best teams in the championship. It was Champions League rhythm tonight. I found my players to be very brave. Against a very good defensive team, we created a lot of chances. I want to dedicate this first victory to the supporters, who have always pushed us, from start to finish.”
Vitinha and his positioning: “To attack against a team like Lens, or any very good team, you need breadth and depth. What we want above all is a very free Kylian (Mbappé). For that, you have to fix the opponent. Who is in charge of this? Vitinha, who sometimes opened so that he was free, other times it was he who supported.
SEE ALSO – Mbappé’s first goal this season, at Toulouse-PSG on August 19 (1-1)
Warren Zaire-Emery: “I love it. He’s an incredible player… He’s 17 years old. He’s a player who really has everything to become one of the most important in the Paris squad and it’s a great chance for me to have a diamond in the rough like him at my disposal. He is a player who is both very hardworking and very technical. Our mission is to support him, and above all, to ensure that he stays at PSG for a very long time and thus brings a lot of joy to the supporters. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but it’s very beautiful this communion between the fans and such a young player, who was probably among the supporters not long ago (Zaire-Emery spent long minutes singing with the Ultras of the CUP at the end of the meeting, see below, Editor’s note).
The defence: “It was because of the pressure exerted by Lens. When you play against a team with such intensity, such aggressiveness, you still have to find solutions. I could have chosen a game that involves the four defenders and the goalkeeper a lot, but that was not the goal because we wanted to attack a lot. Our idea of play remains the same, that is to say to attack and create chances. Then it depends on the opponent. In this case, we did not want to be overwhelmed by Lens. I am very happy with our presence in the opposing half during the second half.
Manuel Ugarte: “I don’t think you could find a single Parisian supporter who didn’t appreciate Ugarte’s qualities as a receiver… It’s down to two things: his individual qualities, but also the whole team that conditions him to do so. We also see that the fans celebrated his actions as assists. It’s very important for us to feel that support.”
Statements taken at a press conference
