A few hours after the words of his rival Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Mauricio Pochettino, spoke in turn. Before the knockout round of the Champions League on Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Real Madrid, the Argentinian technician gave an update on the news of the moment, in particular on the reassuring states of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, his game plan and absences in the Madrid clan.
On Mbappé’s health
Mauricio Pochettino first wanted to be reassuring about the condition of his nugget Kylian Mbappé’s foot: “We talked, he is fine. When he received the blow he cried out in pain, he was in pain, but afterwards, with calm and tranquility, we let a few hours pass and he could walk. We hope he will be able to train normally tonight”. And to add on Mbappé’s motivation, when we say he is leaving for the team opposite: “We have absolute calm, things are very clear, Mbappé is incredibly mature, he will defend his colors. I know he will remain calm”.
As for the Brazilian superstar Neymar, the player assured it himself in a press conference: “I feel better even though my injury was serious, more so than we thought. But I’m here, ready to help the team, very happy to play in this great stadium.”
On the game plan
“The best way to defend for a team like PSG is to attack, dominate, play in the opposing camp”, believes Pochettino, sure of his facts about his future strategy. For him, Paris will have to do as he had “done for 90 minutes at the Park”. But the Argentinian remains suspicious of an opponent who is always formidable at this level of the competition: “We know it will be a different Madrid from the first leg, but it’s a tough game, like a final.” He also knows that since that match, Real Madrid have shown a completely different face.
“After the defeat in the first leg, the Madrid machinery got going and now has only one idea: to reverse the score. This club did not win thirteen C1s by chance, but we will not have not afraid. We know what we are capable of, we have a lot of leaders on the pitch.”
Mauricio Pochettinoat a press conference
For Neymar, the meeting will above all be based on a leitmotif: “We attack and defend together.” He specifies : “We will play like at home, where we played a very good match. (…) This is the competition that we want to win this year. If we play together, we have the possibility of winning, not only the match, but more than that”.
On Casemiro’s absence
Opposite the Parisians, on the ground, vindictive Madridians with sharp fangs will present themselves on their lawn at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, they will have to compose without one of their leaders: Casemiro. His midfield partner Luka Modric readily admits: “We will miss him. We know the importance he has in our gameregrets the Ballon d’Or 2018. But we have other players who can do as well, like Fede (Valverde), Edu (Camavinga). Toni (Kroos), I hope he can play… We will have to give ourselves even more than usual in defensive tasks; but I’m sure whoever plays will do it very well”.