Tuchel Reflects on Le Classique and Speaks on the Team’s Mentality Following the Loss

Paris Saint-Germain's German head coach Thomas Tuchel, wearing a face mask, gives a press conference at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on July 30, 2020, on the eve of the French League Cup final football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique Lyonnais (OL). (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Paris Saint-Germain is currently in a tough stretch early in its new campaign. With back-to-back league losses, PSG currently stands at 17th in the Ligue 1 table. This should, of course, not last very long, but manager Thomas Tuchel sure would have liked to begin the season with two straight dominating showings.

Tuchel gave a pre-match press conference (via PSG’s official website) on Tuesday ahead of the team’s upcoming contest against Metz. Among the topics he discussed, the German manager reflected on the tough loss to Olympique de Marseille. He acknowledged that his side played a fine game but the club just could not get on the scoresheet.

“All we were missing was goals,” Tuchel said. “We controlled the match and we were well structured on the field. We won the ball back 18 times in the opposition half, including 11 in the final 20 metres. Those are very beautiful statistics but you can also lose matches when you play well and bad luck is part of the game.”

Tuchel has had to help get the result off of the players’ minds and shift their focus to the upcoming league contest against Metz. Tuchel talked about the team’s mentality during this tough stretch.

“We’ve just lost three games in a row and we’re not used to that, but we mustn’t lose sight of the context,” Tuchel said. “The situation is complicated but we played some good matches, without getting the results in the end. I don’t want to focus only on the results, especially not now, and I don’t want to talk of a crisis, but we need to turn the situation around and simply be better.”

Tuchel also officially confirmed that Marquinhos will be the team captain for the upcoming season. The Brazilian defender is expected to play against Metz tomorrow.

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Tags Marseille Thomas Tuchel
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