João Neves, the 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, stopped in the mixed zone after the 1-1 draw against Newcastle this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes in Matchday 8 of the 2025-2026 Champions League.
Neves: “You can see that we’re still playing very well.”
A great start in the Champions League followed by a more difficult period, how do you explain that?
I think if you look at the match, you can see that we’re still playing very well. Unfortunately, we’re not scoring goals, and that’s why we don’t have 3 points. But I’m very happy with what we did today, with what we did in Lisbon. I prefer to play a good match and draw like that than to not play well at all.
It was your return tonight, how are you feeling physically?
I’m very tired, but that’s normal. I’ll keep going; we have a lot of people who help us rest and recover. So, I’ll use that. I trust them every day.
Neves: “Last season, we played in the playoffs, and it wasn’t a problem.”
How do you explain that many players were below their usual level in this match?
I think we played a great match. We showed that we played very well. I think we can focus on what we did with the ball. We played well, like in Lisbon. But, unfortunately, there’s the draw.
A draw that’s a disappointment after going through to the playoffs?
It’s not a disappointment, it’s sad because we dominated the match. But, that’s how it is. We have to use the next matches to improve our game; it’s not bad, but we always have to improve something. Last season, we played in the playoffs and it wasn’t a problem. We have to look at the positives in all of this.
Neves: “We have a lot of players.”
Surprising to see Safonov starting?
No, we have three great goalkeepers, so the coach chooses the best one for the team, just like in every position. The coach chose Matvey because he thinks he’s the best option for this match.
Are the team’s cohesion a bit disrupted due to injuries?
Injuries happen in football, we don’t want them to, but unfortunately, they do. But, as I’ve already said, we have three great goalkeepers, and we also have players in other positions to fill in if anyone is unavailable. There are players to do things in midfield if I’m not there. We have a lot of players.
