For their opening league match, Paris Saint-Germain faced FC Nantes in the final game of Matchday 1 in Ligue 1 (0-1, video highlights here). After this victory—which also marked his PSG debut—22-year-old defender Ilya Zabarnyi, who joined this summer from Bournemouth, spoke to PSG TV.
Zabarnyi: “I love the fans, they are incredible!”
“I feel very good. I really enjoyed being on the pitch today. I was happy to play the full match and I had a lot of fun. I feel good. I really liked playing with the ball.
I stayed focused, because they were trying to counterattack with a low block, so it was quite different. But for me, it was fine, I enjoyed it today. I love the fans, they are incredible! They never stop singing, it’s amazing. It feels great to hear them.”
This was an important win for PSG, who have had just over a week of full training sessions behind them. The clash with Nantes had all the ingredients of a potential trap, and it was hard to picture a dominant PSG performance in their first league outing.
In the end, however, that’s exactly what happened, with the team finishing with an average of 72% possession. A first victory that allows them to start the new campaign with confidence. It was also a very good match for Zabarnyi, freshly arrived at his new club and already looking well adapted to the system
