In a more difficult period before facing PSG in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, Real Sociedad (7th in Liga) will obviously not be favorites on Wednesday evening.
Coach Imanol Alguacil knows this and must, on top of that, deal with several injured players.
Which will not make the task easier for the Spaniards who still aspire to achieve a success within the Parc des Princes before the return match on March 5 at Anoeta.
Robin Le Normand, the Franco-Spanish defender, accompanied his coach during the pre-match press briefing.
He did not escape questions about his duel with Kylian Mbappé.
Selected pieces.
PSG: “You know like me that they also have weaknesses”
Imanol Alguacil:
“PSG has a squad that can allow it to be a finalist with a coach (Luis Enrique) who knows us very well and whom I know a lot.
He likes to press, to have the ball, I know that.
We have someone very serious, but if we're having a good day we can make a surprise.
You know like me that they also have weaknesses, they concede goals.
There will be times when they have the ball, I hope there will also be times where we can take the ball from them.
We like high pressure, taking the game into our own hands, but on the other hand we have a team that is strong at all levels, it's a very prepared team.
I don't want to be frustrated at the end, telling myself that we didn't try.
For this, we will have to give everything.
It will take a lot of aces in our game to hurt PSG.”
Robin Le Normand:
“It’s a team which over the last few months has found its bearings on a collective level and which also has some great individualities.
One of the keys will be found in collective work, the pressure that we will be able to put on our adversaries.
We must remain calm, calm in our heads.
It's the Champions League but we've faced this kind of match before.
Paris is one of the favorites every year.
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OYARZABAL UNCERTAIN: “If he feels fit, he will be on the field”
Imanol Alguacil:
“If you had asked me after training, I could have been more specific.
You know me… If he feels good at least he will play.
But he has to feel good.
If he came with us, it's because there is a possibility that he could play.
Yesterday (Monday) he played a little more, he must do a little more during today's training... We'll see.
If there's a match where we have to give everything, it's tomorrow.
If he feels fit, he will be on the field.
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KYLIAN MBAPPÉ: “Impossible to stop at his best”
Imanol Alguacil:
“I never thought of the match in relation to a single player.
He is one of the best players in the world, capable of finding spaces, of having the advantage.
It's impossible, in my opinion, to stop him when he's at his best.
But it's not just Kylian, other players can cause us difficulties.
Against PSG, we have to play our best game offensively and defensively.
His future ?
If he arrives in La Liga it would be great for us.
We will have to see his desires, see if he wants to come to the Spanish League.
But if he comes here, he will be very well received, I would like Mbappé to be with us one day.
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Robin Le Normand:
“He is one of the best players in the world, he has incredible individual qualities.
He is an exceptional player on the pitch and because of what he has demonstrated mentally, but we have already played against Messi or Ronaldo, they are exceptional players who manage to find solutions in closed matches.
Very few players can do it.
However, I think that the collective always wins.
If tomorrow we reiterate what we have certainly been able to do in recent months, that we are strong in duels, that we will seek them high, that we have clear ideas, it is certain that we will cause them problems.
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LUIS ENRIQUE: “I love his press conferences and I love him as a coach”
Imanol Alguacil:
“I admire him, I respect him a lot, I love his work.
I really like him as a person, I love his press conferences and I love him as a coach.
He is a coach who has clear ideas.
No matter the teams he coached, he always knew how to get performances out of them.
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