Marquinhos, the 31-year-old central defender and captain of Paris Saint-Germain, spoke to Canal+ after PSG’s 3-0 victory over Chelsea (8-2 on aggregate, quarter-final to be played against Liverpool or Galatasaray) this Tuesday at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their 2025-2026 Champions League Round of 16 tie (second leg on March 17).
Marquinhos: “That’s what we’ve been working on all week.”
Was it a dream night for PSG?
We managed to unlock this match very quickly, and that was our objective today. I think that’s been our mentality since last year: even if we had the lead in the first leg, we came here to get the win. That’s what we’ve been working on all week. We worked hard and played well. We managed to stay strong in difficult moments, we scored very early, and that calmed us down during the match.
Marquinhos: “We managed the difficult moments well and capitalized on our periods of dominance.”
Do you feel like you experienced the same calm as last year?
Yes, I felt calm and secure. Even though we lost possession a few times at the end of the match, it shows that we slowed the pace a bit; they still had chances. For the upcoming matches, we need to improve on that and stay focused throughout the entire game because it’s crucial, because matches can turn around very quickly, and we experienced that last year.
Every match has its own story. Last time, at home, it was very difficult, and we stayed strong until the final minute, managing to score three goals in quick succession. Today, we scored very early, and every match has its own story. That’s what has made us a great team since last year. We managed the difficult moments well and capitalized on our high points. We showed that even though we won the first leg, we came here to win this second leg; we have the team for it.
Marquinhos: “We want to defend our title, but we have to take it one step at a time.”
What we did here is incredible, 3-0 at Chelsea’s ground. You have to realize the fantastic work we did. We managed to control the match, even more so than the first. We have to continue like this with this mentality, and we’ll only face great teams until we reach our goal: the final. We want to defend our title, but we have to take it one step at a time.
Marquinhos: “Today’s match was thoroughly analyzed beforehand by our coach.”
Did you feel less involved because the team defended better together?
Yes, I think we gave our all defensively today. We talked all week about wanting to improve things. We saw it in the last match, and our mentality is to press high, but at times, when they broke through the pressure, we couldn’t always get support on their attacks.
I also think Chelsea changed the positions of their forwards, and that made things easier for us. We were able to be more compact. We have that mentality. Today’s match was thoroughly analyzed beforehand by our coach, who showed us that this game would be important defensively.
In attack, we know the quality we have; we manage to create chances and control the game. But we had difficulties in the last match, the spaces we left open, and we’ve worked hard to be more compact and more composed defensively.
