Willian Pacho, Paris Saint-Germain’s 23-year-old defender, stopped by the mixed zone after the 0-1 win over Arsenal (video highlights Arsenal/PSG) at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League 2024-2025 semi-finals (return on May 7).
Pacho: “The most important thing was the way we played.
An important victory?
Yes, it was important to win today. Honestly, it’s not easy to come here and face a team like that. But we’ve achieved our first objective. Now we need to rest up and get ready for the second leg at home.
What’s the most important thing?
More than the result, what needs to be emphasized is the way we played, with our confidence, our attitude as a team. This way, we support each other like a family, and that’s very important.
When you’re like a family, the support you feel from each of your team-mates and the way the fans supported us today, that’s very important. Now we have to carry on and rest. There’s still a long way to go.
Pacho “I know that defensively everyone is going to help and offensively it’s the same.”
A great collective strength?
That’s soccer, there are always times when you have to suffer and there are times when you have to attack. But as I said, we suffered as a family, as a close-knit group. We attacked as a family.
We do everything together. I think that’s very important for us, we all run together, we all attack together. It helps us to improve, to grow, to have confidence. I know that defensively, everyone’s going to help, and offensively, it’s the same thing.
Pacho “We have to keep going.
How did you feel?
We’re calm, we’re staying together, we’re focused, we know that the return match won’t be easy. We need to keep going. All the indicators are green ahead of the return leg. But there’s still a lot to do. We’ve taken a step.