Clash of the Titans! The rematch! This Wednesday evening at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich hosted Paris Saint-Germain for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final. And after the epic first leg, the two teams once again delivered a high-flying battle, leaving the Parisians, who opened the scoring, completely exhausted. They were pegged back in stoppage time by the Munich side, who were left with little hope, but it was indeed Paris who qualified for their second consecutive final with a score of 1-1, 6-5 on aggregate. Désiré Doué stopped to share his immediate reactions with Canal+ microphones:
Désiré Doué: “It’s a dream to return to the Champions League final.”
It’s pretty cool to be back in Munich, isn’t it?
Yes, it was an exceptional match, an exceptional night in Munich. We played against a truly great team, and we have to congratulate them. They have extraordinary players, and these are the kinds of matches we dream of playing since we were kids. It’s a dream to return to the Champions League final. Now we’re going to celebrate this as a team, quietly, and enjoy it. We’re staying humble; we know there’s still work to be done, especially in Ligue 1, and then, after reaching the Champions League, we’ll have to go and win the final.
You won with talent and also with suffering?
Yes, there are matches where you can’t always win with magic or extraordinary play. Today we defended a lot, but we defended very well. That’s also our strength: we’re capable of defending, we’re capable of attacking, we do both, but we still need to improve in many areas. Our fans are up there singing, and even in the stadiums, there are so many fans singing. We always hear them, and it’s a real joy to have them.
“We gave it our all, we’re tired, we all made the effort.”
Is this an unsinkable team?
No, we have to stay humble. We have very high ambitions, and it’s going to be a very tough final against Arsenal. They’re a good team too, so we have to stay focused. We’ll have time to come back and talk about it, and for now, we’re enjoying ourselves and recovering, and then we’ll see about the final.
You almost scored again?
I’d rather we win and I don’t score than score and be eliminated. We’re not going to rehash the match; I’m very happy as it is.
Tonight you were magical in a different way.
Yes, thank you. We played as a team, we gave it our all, we’re tired, we all made the effort.
Do you enjoy defending as an attacking player? What did the coach ask you to do?
We’re not changing our principles, especially the things we’re used to doing. The coach asks us to press forward, attack, and defend, and defense is very important for the team; we have to give our all for each other. That’s how we manage to win trophies. It’s not by being individualistic; we all fought for each other, and that’s what makes us strong.
