Its current form: “It’s a good period on an individual level. But you can't say that only when you score, especially when you're a midfielder... But I'm in a good moment individually and I hope that will be the case tomorrow (Tuesday)."
Final before time: “It’s too early in the season, it’s only October and we know how things can change over the course of a season. The truth of October is sometimes not the truth of March... It's a big match, a match that we can't wait to play and one of the best matches you can play at this moment, with great teams, two of the best in Europe with Bayern. We are expecting a very interesting match and we can’t wait to play this match.”
“Kvara’s” disappointing start to the season: “You can’t find an explanation. All players have ups and downs, as the coach (Luis Enrique) often says. We hope that he, but also that everyone will be at their best tomorrow.”
Fear of Lamine Yamal: “No, I wouldn’t talk about fear. He is a great player, one of the best in the world. What he is doing at the moment is incredible, he is an exceptional player. It’s interesting to play against a player like that. But not just him. I know he is special, really different, but to only talk about Lamine Yamal when talking about Barça is a bit unfair. We will first face a great team, not just Lamine Yamal, with great individuals.”
An extra thrill against Barça: “Like City, it’s a big match, the kind of match that we want to play, that we take a lot of pleasure in playing, even if it’s not decisive and it’s only worth three points in a long league phase. It’s not decisive, but we can’t wait to play it, we really want to play it, to see our level and that of Barça.”
The Barça midfielder: “We will see what is best for us tactically. It’s an extraordinary environment, I like the way they play. But we will see what needs to be done to break Barça's pressure. In the first half, we did very well at City. Sometimes you have to be a little lower or higher, have permutations... We'll see. (…) It will be interesting to see who will dominate in the middle, who will control the match more. Both teams will put pressure without the ball. And with the ball, both teams want to control. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It will be a great match, very competitive, with very good midfielders and very good teams.”
Joao Neves: “It’s a bit the same response as on Kvara, it goes through ups and downs. But people talk as soon as we don't play a match... That's how it is, it's competition as Unai Emery said when he was here. We have good players and we have recruited even more. As the coach says that Warren (Zaire-Emery) is a starter, I also say that Joao is a starter. We have a lot of starters in this team, players who are always ready to play, it’s healthy and positive competition for everyone. It pushes us to stay sharp and it forces us to always be at our best.”
Ousmane Dembélé: “He’s been one of the leaders of the team for a long time. At least in the big matches, he always responded. What he brings, what he gives in this type of match, it’s unique. We hope he will still be there tomorrow to give us chills and great emotions. Even more praise is needed for Ousmane. We all know what he is capable of doing and we hope he will be at a great level tomorrow.”
The sector in which he has progressed the most since his arrival at PSG: “I feel different. It’s been a long road, this is my fifth year. The coach always tells me that we need to improve in many aspects, and that’s fine. It was a beautiful path, very hard, but it’s complicated to highlight one aspect. I am proud of this path. We continue, I continue. This is my fifth year and I hope it continues like this with titles and individually too.
The Golden Ball: “I have already said it, I think it would be fair if it went to a PSG player who won the Champions League, but there is a lot of competition for this trophy: Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise… But the fairest thing would be for a Parisian to win.”
The key to the match: “A bit like the matches against Bayern, with two teams who press all the time and who want to have the ball. There is only one ball though, so it will be difficult... I think it will be a bit crazy at first. There will be spaces. Afterwards, over time, I think there will be a drop in pace. We’ll see which team it will be, and the other will benefit.”
How to maintain standards over the years and titles: “One of the keys is competition. The coach always asks for more and doesn't leave you in your comfort zone. There are great players alongside you who push you to do your best, otherwise, you could leave the team... It's hard to stay at this level for a very long time though. What we manage to do is difficult, but we continue. We are in the third year. Or even the fourth for that matter, because we were in the semi-finals of C1 in 2024, and it was a coincidence if we had not reached the final.
