Paris Saint-Germain came away with a dramatic 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
Overall, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino sees that there were several keys in the match that went his side’s way, which he touched on in his post-match press conference.
“We exerted good pressure, cut off some of Real’s play patterns, especially in midfield with Kroos, Modric and Casemiro,” Pochettino said. “They couldn’t feed the strikers. We made them uncomfortable. In the recovery, we had a good position to control the game. We lacked aggression and presence in the last third of the game, but we are satisfied in general. We took some risks.”
Much has been talked about regarding Real Madrid’s conservative stance to drop back against PSG. This tactical decision from the La Liga side did not come as a surprise to the Argentine manager.
“It has happened to us,” Pochettino said. “Against Manchester City, for example, we were on our goal, in an uncomfortable situation, cornered. We managed to disconnect Real from their strong points. That’s the key. We stopped them. We can throw all the flowers of the world at ourselves because we achieved a lot.”
PSG finished the contest with 18 more total shots than Real Madrid.
