From his home in Paris, Thomas Tuchel spoke with journalist Ambre Godillon about Paris Saint-Germain’s last match before the coronavirus suspended leagues around Europe.
On March 11, PSG defeated Borussia Dortmund by a score of 2-0 in the return leg at the Parc des Princes to advance to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
As Tuchel explains during the interview, he had developed a plan to overcome the 2-1 loss to Dortmund in the first leg shortly after the final whistle.
“Honestly, I had a plan on the plane after the match against Dortmund…Sometimes it’s like that…I wrote things down and we stuck with that plan.”
Tuchel also discussed how the game was one of two halves where his squad came out needing to score but then went into a more defensive strategy to hold onto the lead in the second half. The former Dortmund manager praised Presnel Kimpembe and Marquinhos for their defensive efforts in keeping Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho silent for 90 minutes.
The most interesting part of the interview came when Tuchel was asked about Neymar’s effort both on offense and defense and whether that was a key to success against Dortmund.
“Yes, but Ney is always the key, in attack and in defense. But I really have to say it, he’s always reliable when important matches come up. He works a lot, he’s always there, he’s very smart, he controls the ball. We saw that he was feeling in better form than in the first game against Dortmund. Unfortunately, he was injured before and he hadn’t played. But between the two games, he gained ability and physicality. He gave everybody the impression that he was there, that he took on his responsibilities. And that leaves a good impression on everyone: on me, the team, on the pitch, it’s great.”
You can watch the full interview below:
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