The Paris Saint-Germain coach is looking for his team to maintain their high standards in Wednesday’s Coupe de France Last 16 tie against Villefranche at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium (kick-off 18:30CET).
THE SQUAD
“Marco Verratti had a full training session on Monday. There’s training on Tuesday and we’ll decide after that if he can play or if it’s still too soon. Layvin Kurzawa completed a near-full session yesterday.”
VILLEFRANCHE
“I expect us to dominate the match and to have a lot of possession. Villefranche will sit deep. They usually defend with five at the back, play on the counter-attack, and are very dangerous at set-pieces. My team will have to be thorough, careful, and will have to play with a lot of quality. We’ll have to show we’re hungry to win. It’s a big match for Villefranche, a unique game. We’ll have to be ready.”
A BANANA SKIN?
“Our responsibility is play to our level, be thorough, and approach the game as we would a Ligue 1 or Champions League match. Players like Buffon, Dani Alves or Thiago Silva have a lot of experience. They’re top level players, who play each game with the same attitude. I have faith in my players, they’ll be ready. It’ll be a Coupe de France game, difficult, against a third division side. It’s our responsibility to win it.”
YOUTH ACADEMY
“It’s not easy to be a young player at Paris Saint-Germain, because there are a lot of quality players here, who want to play a lot. So young players have to patient on the one hand…and not on the other. They have to show in each training session that they’re ready. To play at a club like Paris, it’s necessary to have the experience and the personality to be able to handle the pressure. It’s important for us to have players who have come from the youth academy. They have the chance to show what they can do, to learn.”
