On Saturday, in the final of the Coupe de France 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st in Ligue 1) take on Reims (16th) at the Stade de France (kick-off 9pm, CET). On the eve of the match, Parisian defender and captain Marquinhos (31) answered a number of questions at a press conference.
Marquinhos “I know how big it is, it’s important to get out there and win.”
How are you feeling physically and mentally ahead of the finals?
We’re feeling really good and ready. This is the moment in the season we’ve been waiting for, where we’ve been dreaming of being. We’ve got there, and now we need to prepare in the best possible way. You’ve seen the training, the intensity, the demands. That’s what we’re doing.
We know how beautiful and important the Coupe de France is for France, for us, for PSG. I’ve won French Cups, it’s beautiful. I know how big it is, and how important it is to get out there and win.
Marquinhos “It’s been a great job all season, now’s not the time to change.”
How do you approach a final as PSG’s record-breaking French Cup captain?
It’s very nice, it shows that I’ve been demanding. It’s not easy to play so much for a big club like PSG. I’m 100% motivated and I want to pass on that information. I want to pass on how great it is to win the Coupe de France.
The coach is very demanding, and that’s continuing this week in order to win this title. It’s been a lot of hard work all season, and now’s not the time to change that.
What’s your best memory of your time in Paris?
I’ve got a lot of good memories, and some difficult ones too. It’s not easy to name a single moment. There’s my arrival, my team-mates, the coaches, the trophies, reaching the Champions League final. There are the difficult moments, the difficult seasons, seasons without winning the Coupe de France or Ligue 1. I think those are the hardest.
Marquinhos “we need these 2 titles to really put the season’s work into practice.”
Do you feel you’re at the pinnacle of your career? Is this the best season ever for the club and for you?
I think that before these two finals, this is one of the best seasons personally and collectively. As I said, I’ve had some good moments too, when I felt I was performing well. But today, with my experience, I can see the evolution of the club. I’m really pleased to be here and to be part of the team.
Now we need these 2 titles to really put the season’s work into practice. We’re going to do everything we can to achieve that.
Marquinhos “I think I can still contribute to this team.”
Has it occurred to you that these might be your last games at PSG?
We’re used to this at PSG, with the big players and stars. The most important thing is how I feel, how the coach feels and how the club feels. As I said, I always play the next match as if it were my last. That’s the best way to approach our profession. Soccer moves very fast. Some people play without knowing it’s their last.
The information I have, the feeling I have, is that everyone is happy with my work. We don’t know what the future holds. So I’m giving it my all to prove to myself, to those close to me and to the staff. I want to show my worth and what I can still contribute to this club.
I have so much love and admiration for this club. I’m going to give it my all. One day, the club will think it’s not time anymore. But there will always be admiration and love. I’ve always given my all. I think I can still make a contribution to this team.
Marquinhos: “We have to think about tomorrow’s final”.
How can we avoid trivializing the Coupe de France final while thinking about the LDC?
We know how important next week’s final is. It’s more of an external issue than an internal one. We mustn’t think about it before we play tomorrow’s very important final. I’m giving this message, and so is the coach. He prepares quietly for the finals.
We know how important they are. We know how exciting it is to play in next week’s final, but we have to think about tomorrow’s final. In a final, you have to go out there and think about winning. You can’t think about the next one. I’m focused on this final, and then we can prepare well for the next one. The best preparation is to win tomorrow.
Marquinhos “we know it’s important to focus on the good things”.
Would you prefer Inter to win the Serie title before the LDC?
If there are that many points, there’s another game, right? And when would that be, Monday? (laughs) I don’t know, frankly I’m going to watch tonight. I’m going to recuperate, do my physio and watch. Every match has its own story.
It’s good to see them a bit, because we know what this team is capable of. We’ll get ready when we need to. The most important thing is tomorrow’s final. We can watch, but we mustn’t get bent out of shape about next week’s final. We want to win the final tomorrow, so we know it’s important to focus on the right things. We’re going to watch as enthusiasts, but not to prepare. We’ll have time.
Is playing in this final the best possible preparation?
Not just playing it, but winning the final. That would be the best preparation. It’s great to play in the Coupe de France final, there’s the atmosphere, half the stadium. I try to pass that on to my team-mates. We’ve achieved our goal of reaching the finals, now we want to win.
Marquinhos “We have to prepare well, play an excellent game.”
Does Reims really stand a chance, or are you going to fold them?
(laughs) As I always say, every match has its own story. It doesn’t matter the ranking or the budget. That’s what the Coupe de France is all about. You see lower-ranked teams beating higher-ranked teams who spend more. We had a complicated semi-final against a team from another division.
We need to approach this match well so as not to have any problems. I think that if we play as usual, with intensity and concentration, we have a good chance of winning the match and the title.
But in a final, anything can happen. We’ve already seen that in the semi-finals. It’s up to us not to fall into that kind of difficulty. We need to prepare well and play an excellent match. It all depends on our attitude.
Marquinhos “He gives us alternatives so we can prepare for anything that can happen.”
Barcola said that nothing can happen to you with this coach. Is Luis Enrique PSG’s main strength?
Ah yes, if it’s not the main one, it’s one of the main ones. It’s all a team effort. He’s put his DNA and his ideas in place. He’s improved our game, our defense, our attack. He gives us alternatives so that we’re prepared for anything that might happen.
It’s all been a work in progress since his arrival. We’re ready for the way our opponents play. Luis Enrique has also worked hard on the players’ heads, motivation, preparation and attitude. Not just in the games, but also during the week. It’s also in his commitment, in his way of life.
He showed us the way to get here. Not just by talking about soccer. He’s been very demanding in every respect. He’s a great coach and you can see that on the pitch.
Marquinhos “We’ll all be pulling out all the stops to win this trophy.”
Did you review the 2 draws against Reims this season? How do you explain that?
As I said, it doesn’t matter what situation Reims are in today. We struggled against them. We’ve improved a lot, and we know a lot more about how to find spaces and points to exploit in this final.
But a lot can happen, and we can’t predict tomorrow’s game. We need to prepare ourselves and approach the match well. The coach can still tell us which points to use. We’ve worked on something this week that we can use tomorrow.
I really hope things turn around for us, it’s a lot of hard work and a lot of motivation. We’ll all be pulling out all the stops to win this trophy. A final is about winning. We can’t do what we did in the previous games against Reims.
