After Messi, the Canaries.
Four days after qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals against Barcelona, PSG returns to Ligue 1 this Sunday evening (9 p.m.) with the reception of Nantes at the Parc des Princes.
A new "final" for Mauricio Pochettino's troops who, despite the absence of Neymar, Moise Kean, Ander Herrera, Alessandro Florenzi and Juan Bernat, will have to continue their series of successes to hope to get closer to the top of the standings.
How did you welcome the extension of Angel Di Maria?
MAURICIO POCHETTINO.
It's an important thing for the club and for Angel.
He has been a key player for years.
I am very happy with this extension.
What are the biggest differences between the way you operate at Tottenham and at PSG?
The difference is that in Tottenham we arrived on May 27 and we had more than a month to prepare for the season and lay the foundations for what we were going to work on in the year.
We have been in Paris for two and a half months and we have already played 16 matches in different competitions.
A Champions Trophy final, a 1/8 round of the Champions League, the Coupe de France and the Ligue 1. Consequently, the process is lengthening a bit, we are moving step by step.
You have to adapt to this type of situation and improve over time.
Did you adapt to the players and the country?
It has nothing to do with having changed countries or players.
But when we arrived, we had to analyze the state of form of the players to optimize each sector.
We arrived since January 3, we are not looking for excuses, but we must find the way to proceed with each one to optimize the performances of each player in order to be better every day.
Neymar, whose absence was to be four weeks, is still forfeited.
Has he relapsed?
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There was a possibility that Neymar would return for Barcelona.
He didn't, but he didn't relapse.
Today
(this Saturday)
, he has also done part of the training with the group and he will continue.
PSG are now the only team in the title race to play on all fronts.
Is this an advantage for your opponents?
I don't think that's a plus or a minus.
PSG must always put in mind to arrive as far as possible in each competition that they play.
We should not look for excuses, Paris must play every competition and every match to win it.
Do you consider the meeting against Nantes as a trap match?
It's a tough game, but I wouldn't call it a trap game because we are well aware of the situation.
We had great joy after Europe.
But we know what awaits us, Nantes is a team that will make things difficult for us as Monaco and Barcelona did.
The important thing is to have a maximum of freshness and resources to go for the victory.
Are you worried about having conceded so many clear chances against Barcelona?
No.
We are not 100% happy with the first half of Wednesday's game, of course.
But we can't just focus on that because in reality this match against Barcelona lasted 180 minutes and overall, we won 5-2.
But in the Champions League, there are difficult times, times when we are good and others not.
The bottom line is that the team have qualified for the quarter-finals against a team like Barcelona.
Some players have struggled against Barcelona.
Did they lose points in your eyes?
No.
The team's performances are above all collective.
When things are not going well, the first person responsible is the man in front of you.
Football is a team sport and we have to analyze the performances on this basis.
So it's true Keylor (Navas) had a very good performance on Wednesday, but in general, the performances are analyzed collectively.
