The Paris Saint-Germain coach was in bullish mood ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League game with PSV Eindhoven.
OPPONENT
‘We expect a tough game. The competition is so open anything can happen. The fans’ support will be very important. It’s not easy to evaluate our opponents. You have to look at whether you’re at home or away, that changes everything. They’re a very good team, without a doubt. They’re strong in their domestic league, they have incredible stats.’
I think it’ll be a game like the Strasbourg one, not very comfortable. They play high up the pitch, press hard, and they take risks in possession with De Jong and the wingers. They can also defend well. We’ll see if we face an aggressive PSV. Louis van Gaal was one of my teachers. It’s an honour to have him with me.’
‘The Dutch school is to play good football, like PSV Eindhoven. They play in several ways, with the ball, collectively. They’re a very good team.’
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
‘I think we played very well against Girona. We didn’t play how we wanted to against Arsenal, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen from my team in the competition since the start of the season.’
TEAM’S IMPROVEMENT
‘We work just like any other technical staff on the defensive and attacking concepts. What’s important isn’t who scores or who gets the assist, but that there’s an overall mentality to help the team offensively or defensively. There’s a focus on teamwork. The stats are good.’
‘In football, you have to improve everything in every game. Even when you win 5-0. I see growth, potential, optimism. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but I’m very optimistic. The UEFA Champions League is a very difficult competition, but we’re playing at home at the Parc des Princes and we want to get a positive result.’
COMPETITIVENESS IN THE uefa champions league
‘The next game is always the most important because that’s the one you can control. With this format, each home game becomes even more important. But that’s also the case for PSV Eindhoven. It’s a great competition. We are going into the game with a lot of motivation, with optimism, to try and get the three points.’
‘I think that in this competition, there’s a lot of teams seeded 1, 2 or 3 with a very high level. This team was the best in their country. Every player wants to play. It’s very easy to prepare for a team of this quality in terms of motivation. You need as much calm as possible.’
OPPONENTS’ PERCEPTIONS
‘It’s great to know that opponents talk about us being one of the best teams in the world. But we have to think about the difficulty of the competition. We’ll see how our team can improve.’
lee kang-in
‘Lee Kang-In is one of the players who came in last year. He came from Mallorca. He’s got a lot of talent, plays for the national team, can score goals and is versatile. There are other young players who can hope to play.’
achraf hakimi
‘I think Achraf is at a very similar level to last year. He’s even better in terms of his defending. But he’s a top, top player with a lot of experience. He more mature, he’s improving rapidly.’
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