Will Paris SG eliminate Dortmund?
Luis Fernandez: I hope so, but the precedents prevent us from anticipating an assured qualification. You have to stay measured. We hope it will be good this year but I do see PSG qualifying.
Everyone predicts a spectacular first leg, are you one of them?
Yes, everything is there for us to enjoy that we see goals, play, risk-taking. This poster can be very spectacular. The PSG is more solid, stronger and better armed in my opinion. With the contribution of a Neymar, who walked on the water before his injury, a Kylian Mbappé who will make differences as he could do with Monaco against Dortmund (3 goals in the quarter-final of the Champions League in 2017 ), I have good hope. Add to that Mauro Icardi or Angel Di Maria, offensively it makes you salivate. In the middle, Thomas Tuchel has solutions, defensively I have little fear and Navas is a great goalkeeper. The workforce of PSG this year is capable of making a great Champions League this season.
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Is this the most intelligently constructed Parisian workforce since the arrival of Qatar in 2011?
The results will tell, nothing else. Each year, it is said that PSG can win the Champions League ... Last year, there was already Neymar and Mbappé, that did not stop being trapped in the 8th finals (against Manchester United ). Paris has talent, potential, like every year, but it is now necessary to meet expectations. Ligue 1 is under control, but C1 is a competition which is preparing on the mental level. In all the big clubs you have talent to spare, but the difference is in the state of mind, the collective strength. You have to drive more kilometers than your opponent, collect more balls, be more efficient ... That's the Champions League.
My biggest fear for PSG? Decompression
What is your biggest question about this PSG?
Decompression. It's my fear. You can qualify against Dortmund, with a big double confrontation and hop a relaxation in stride. Eliminating Borussia will not be a feat, it makes sense. Going to the end of this Champions League is not just eliminating Dortmund. You have the quarters, the half and the final. Dortmund is just one step. You have to put up with these intense matches. Our Ligue 1 does not have this commitment that the English, the Germans, the Italians or the Spanish have every weekend. It is a ball for Paris. When you dominate your championship every year with a 20 point lead, it's a problem.
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The players in lack of form, the injured ...
(he cuts) This is one of the big black spots of this PSG this year. And that can affect the rest of the competition. Today nobody is able to say if Paris is physically ready.
If everyone makes collective efforts, I say that this Champions League is for PSG
You said in a German media that Thomas Tuchel was "the worst coach of PSG since the arrival of Qatar", before correcting your remarks ...
I never said that that way and I corrected because everyone was getting carried away on social networks. I was misunderstood and I have nothing against Tuchel, quite the contrary. But last year, he lost in the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue, not to mention the humiliation against Manchester United (defeat in the 8th final of the C1). It marks. These are facts. I do not attack, because as a coach I also made bad choices, but we are in a certain democracy to say what we think. Without being aggressive and mean. I saw him work at PSG. He does beautiful things and luckily Tuchel went through Paris to launch young people. The Kouassis, Zagre, Aouchiche ... I spent 10 months in charge of training for PSG and I was happy that a coach finally put Parisian youth forward.
Do you feel a certain form of psychosis when approaching the knockout stages of the Champions League?
They have been coming to this stage for 7, 8 years and we feel a special climate. Avoid falling back into the same trap. I'm not attacking PSG, but we wouldn't like to relive Barça's "escalation", the Manchester United fiasco. Paris was stronger and better at that time, but this year everything is there to make it change. PSG has everything to reach the final.
Who do you see competing at PSG for the final victory?
Inevitably Liverpool, who made the hole in the Premier League and can focus on the Champions League. I don't find Manchester City as strong as advertised. Real Madrid is no longer as big and dominating as it used to be. Barça, with Messi who no longer advances as quickly and well, raises questions, Bayern Munich does not fly over the Bundesliga. Cite other adversaries? Juventus can be a big customer with an eternal Ronaldo ... But PSG has nothing to envy anyone in Europe. When you have Neymar, Cavani, Icardi, Mbappé, Di Maria in your squad and if everyone makes collective efforts, I say that this Champions League is for PSG. There is talent everywhere in this team. For me, PSG has the best workforce in Europe.
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