Paris Saint-Germain got into further trouble in the Champions League when they conceded a late goal against Atlético de Madrid (1-2, see video summary), a sad reflection of the team’s lack of efficiency since the start of the season. Marquinhos, captain of Red and Blue, spoke to Canal+ to explain what Luis Enrique’s players are missing this season in the Champions League:
Marquinhos: “We can’t seem to improve our efficiency”.
What went wrong today?
We had confidence and hope. We wanted to win and we let 2 points slip against PSV and today we knew it was an important victory. We’ve tried, we’re playing well, we’re creating chances, we’re making progress, but we can’t seem to improve our efficiency. That’s what happens in big games, sometimes you play a game and make mistakes and you don’t get penalized, especially in Ligue 1, but on the other side there are some great players and in big games like that if you make mistakes like we did today, you get penalized at the back. That’s what hurts us. Atletico had an obvious tactic, they have a lot of experience in this competition and in this kind of match. We had a strategy in place that didn’t work.
“We’re going to have to pick up some important points to qualify”.
Why isn’t it working offensively?
If I have the answer, we just need to work on it. We need to be calmer in front of goal, Warren did it and managed to score. We’ve created a lot of chances, we’ve got movement and control of the match, and we’ve got a lot of expected goals. We managed to play in their half, but it was in the final passes, in the final finish and on the last goal, we were all up front and we made mistakes that paid off. We weren’t in a good position, but they managed to counter, and we’ve seen some of the top teams pay for it in the big leagues with mistakes by their opponents. As we said in the dressing room, there’s no room for error now. We’ve got some big games coming up, and we’re going to have to pick up some important points to qualify.
“It’s in the final details that we get penalized”.
Are you worried?
If we look at 4 points from 4 games, including 3 at home, we’re going to have to pick up some tough points away from home, and we know how difficult that can be. If we have to pick up points, we’ll go for it, but we have to play with the cards we’ve got in our hands. We’re not going to throw everything away – there are still games to be played.
The truth is, if we want to win games, we have to do things better to get closer to victory, and it’s in the final details that we’re penalized. If we want to grow in this competition, I’ve been here for 10 years and we’re penalized in the small details and we don’t have the right to miss out on that.
