FC Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their French championship matches this Sunday evening with the closing match of the first day. And despite an undeniable lack of preparation time compared to other Ligue 1 clubs, the Red and Blues won 0-1 against Nantes (see video summary). Luis Castro, coach of the Canaries, spoke to the Ligue 1+ channel about this defeat against the European champions.
Castro: “It was deserved that they won the Champions League.”
What did you say to Luis Enrique?
I told him it was good that he won the Champions League last year and that it was deserved. I’m happy that it was a French club that won.
Was it stressful for you, playing against the European champions?
No, it was calm. We didn’t play a bad game and Antony didn’t really have to make any big saves. We controlled PSG’s main strengths well, and their goal came from a counter that deflected off another player. The ball might not even have been on target. In the end, they won, but they deserved it.
Do you have doubts about the quality of your squad at the end of the transfer window?
Yes, the transfer window only closes at the end of the month, but the players gave everything today and we’ll raise our level little by little. It’s not bad at all to have managed to contain PSG.
How does your approach to matches change, knowing you like to keep possession?
We’ll see more of the ball than we did today, we want to do more, but there are other teams facing us, and if their pressing is good, it’s more difficult too. There were quite a few situations where we broke through midfield, but in the final passes or actions we have to do better. We need to take more shots on goal. On the other hand, a lot of players made their Ligue 1 debut today against a team whose level everyone knows. They played quite a good match.
