The Parisian coach takes stock at a press conference this Friday, on the eve of the Coupe de France final, Saturday, in Lille, against Lyon.
The state of mind of the players : “I am always transparent in press conferences, I am also direct in the messages I send to the team. I had no complaints during the season. The team responded perfectly. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last match. This is my penultimate press conference of the season. It’s an important moment because it’s a final. It’s one of the best matches to play.”
Kylian Mbappé and his involvement : “The involvement of all the players is perfect. But the credit doesn’t go to me. We are playing an important match tomorrow. For a final, the stadium is split in two with supporters of both teams. This kind of match is always special, 90 minutes and maybe extra time, the details make the difference. As for attitude during the week, no worries. (…) Mbappé holder? What is the question, whether he will play tomorrow? Of course (smile).”
Summary of the season : “Until the last match is over, there can be no assessment. But to be honest, there will be no review tomorrow after the match either. It’s not my job. It is up to Luis Campos and the president (Nasser Al-Khlelaïfi) to do it. The rest is up to you. I don’t worry about that. When you give everything you can, you don’t have to worry.”
Lyon, an unpredictable team : “I believe that OL won 20 of their 27 matches under Pierre Sage. The statistics are incredible. He turned the situation around with a team that started with so much difficulty… Lyon has individual quality, especially in attack. Next season, they will certainly be fighting with us for the title of French champion. He’s a top opponent. We are ready to face them, with the level of motivation necessary to try to win the Coupe de France.
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Lyon can hurt any team.
Luis Enrique
Easy Paris winner of the two confrontations in L1 : “It’s a team that has a different dynamic compared to the championship matches. If we remember the second match, they played differently in the two periods, with a different defense after the break. In the final, there is inevitably a moment when one of the two teams is on the verge of defeat, and when they will have to do everything to win. We will see different alternatives in terms of play. We will have to attack at a high level, and defend well too. They are dangerous with the ball and can hurt any team. Besides, they had chances against us. So it will be a complicated final.”
Surprises in the starting 11 : “It depends on what you consider a surprise. I have a group of 20 players and they can all play. “It wouldn’t be a surprise to me in any way.”
The French Cup : “In the countries I know, the national cup is one of the best competitions for what it represents historically, for what it means for the supporters and because it is different from the championship. It allows inferior clubs to win, and it happens in many countries. Of course, in our case it has been one of the objectives since the start of the season. We have already won two trophies (the championship and the Champions Trophy, Editor’s note), it would be perfect to end the season like that.
Xavi sacked by FC Barcelona : “After our victory in Barcelona (in the quarter-final second leg of C1, Editor’s note), I said two things, and one of them was that I wanted to see Xavi stay at Barça. I stand by my point.”
Bradley Barcola against his former club : “I speak with knowledge of the facts, it’s always complicated to play against your old team, the club from your city. But above all we are professional. We must defend the colors of our current club in the best possible way. Bradley Barcola has gone through a lot of emotions during the season. He did very well, despite his young age. That doesn’t mean he’s a finished product as a player. He has a lot of room for improvement. But he lives up to what the club expected when they recruited him. And we are happy with his contribution.”
Comments collected at a press conference
