Pochettino before PSG-Leipzig: "Possession will be important"

The priority is always the health of the players. It's a small problem and we hope it's only a matter of days before we find it. (…) He trained because there was the agreement of the medical staff. It is not a decision that is up to us (to the technical staff). He trained. He felt an embarrassment that prevented him from doing the last part. The decision was then made that he is not available for the game against Leipzig. One hour before training, we have a meeting with the medical, performance and technical staff. We evolve each player. This is where the medical staff gives or not the green light. It's not up to the technical staff to do it: we don't have the knowledge to make these decisions,

Mauro has not trained today for personal reasons, he will be on the list and we will see tonight, when he comes back, if he is able to play or not.

We're talking about the best in the world… Why replace them?

It doesn't make sense…

We are mature enough to understand that we are talking about the best in the world, players who are capable of understanding and communication. And they make the right decisions at the right time. Although it may be difficult to understand from the outside, it is quite natural that they make the decisions themselves. I don't think he needs hierarchy.

They need to win, and so do we. Leipzig is a very good team, with a lot of energy and quality players. They are aggressive and want to achieve a result. It will be a tough game. The important thing for us will be the use of the ball and where and how we lose the ball, how to compensate to defend in the transition phases. We will need a defensive organization to counter the Leipzig offensives but possession will be important tomorrow.

Leo shines by himself, here, in selection or elsewhere.

He's been there for a few months, it's more natural now.

We are happy with him and his integration, he feels better and better.

We wait for him to perform at the level he wants, that we all want and we know that it will be like that.

I have not yet decided who will play.

Keylor Navas is available.

I've already decided actually but I won't tell you (laughs).

Since I arrived, in January, I have the same questions about Marco, if he should play higher, lower, left or right… With mutual knowledge, the dialogues, it allows us to know that he is a player who can evolve without worry in the position he had against City.

He has enormous capabilities.

The most important thing is that he is on the ground.

He brings a lot of things.

The last match, against Angers (2-1), we won. Rennes is a thing of the past. With the international break, three matches for some, we didn't have time to work. It will come with time, we will find the automatisms. (…) There is an idea, a methodology, a clear way of working. We know that it may be invisible to some, from the outside, but we see it and we are very happy with the evolution. We know that there is a context, a complexity of the situation we are going through, which means that things take longer to be seen. We can talk about some teams ahead of their project, such as Manchester City with Pep Guardiola or Manchester United with Six Alex Ferguson, where there had been an evolution in complexity. In general, we are happy with theevolution of these things and we hope that we can put things in place that will be more visible over time.