Borussia Dortmund launched the countdown before the shock against PSG on Tuesday evening in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League. This Monday, at its Signal Iduna Park stadium, the German club gave the first press conferences before this meeting, in the presence of its coach Lucien Favre and midfielder Axel Witsel. Two French speakers (Swiss and Belgian), who assured that they had prepared the reception for Parisians as best as possible.
“We watched several games, begins Favre, former coach of Nice. We know their players. Paris is a very dangerous team, which finished ahead of Real Madrid in the group stage, that says it all… ”For the coach of Borussia, the PSG's forces are multiple and do not concern only the offensive talent.
"I can't name all the players who have quality at PSG," he continues. Neymar is a very, very good player. At least ten can be cited. There is a huge attacking potential. But the team is also dangerous to recover the ball. She masters many things. She also has strength in defensive play. You can't lose a ball to these players, otherwise the block can be lightning fast. ”
"I have nothing against a 1-0 result"
Favre does not seem against a close enough match, even if it goes against the predictions between two teams to the fire attacks. “A good game can sometimes be defensive. I have nothing against a 1-0 result for us… ”, concludes the tactician.
Witsel, who will be the starting midfielder against PSG, uses the last Dortmund match as an example to follow: "We were more aggressive against Frankfurt (Editor's note: 4-0 victory on Friday 14 February) . If we lost the ball, we would do everything to get it back as soon as possible. It will be an important factor tomorrow (Editor's note: this Tuesday) and maybe this match will be similar to the one against Barça ”.
In September, Borussia had indeed welcomed the Catalan club in the group stage. For a… scoreless draw. Probably not the wish of the public for this shock against the PSG.