Marquinhos, the 30-year-old central defender and captain of Paris Saint-Germain, stopped by the mixed zone after the 4-1 victory over Lille (PSG/Lille video highlights) this Saturday at the Parc des Princes as part of the 24th day of Ligue 1 2024-2025. He spoke of the hard work put in over the course of the season, and of coach Luis Enrique’s contribution to making a significant difference from other seasons.
Marquinhos: “You can’t prepare for a match like this a day or two beforehand.
A demonstration before Liverpool on Wednesday ?
If you have to think of a perfect scenario before turning to a match like the one against Liverpool, it’s this one, with the win, the sequence of games, everyone fit, the returns from injury, rest for those who needed to rest… We managed to get the result too. Yes, it’s a perfect scenario.”
No injuries and great momentum ahead of European clash:
That’s the best thing, it’s with this kind of scenario that you want to approach a game like Liverpool, with no injuries, everyone fit, everyone well, everyone confident and with the win, the good atmosphere we have in the group. We need to keep going and not stop here.
I think it’s also a job. The day-to-day work of a staff who push us to do our utmost. Because you can’t prepare for a match like that one or two days beforehand. Since the start of the season, that’s why the coach has been pushing us. It’s not just a few days before that we prepare.
Marquinhos “We have a coach who is very demanding, he wants everyone to perform.”
Any message to Liverpool with this match ?
As I said, it’s not a few days before that we send a message. We’ve been in good shape for a while now. Our team is going there to play and get a result.
I think every game will be a final for us, every game will be important. We’re all focused on preparing well for this match. But it’s a job that didn’t start today. We’re still trying to pick up points, and even though we’re a long way ahead in L1, we have to keep picking up points.
We have to continue to perform well. We have a very demanding coach, who wants everyone to perform well. If you’re not doing well, you go to the bench and someone else plays. It’s good, there’s a good dynamic, a good understanding at the moment. We need to keep working and not let up.
Marquinhos: “He always has something to say, something to improve, and that pushes us forward.”
What are the differences between this PSG and those of previous years ?
The main difference this year is that the coach really relies on the collective. As he said at the start of the season, this year he was really going to rely on that. It wasn’t easy when he arrived.
It took a lot of hard work, step by step, to get to where the group is today. We’ve had some good recruits. We’ve got a whole group ready to put in great performances like this, with a coach who understands us very well, who knows our strengths and weaknesses too. He pushes us to improve on that.
He’s never satisfied, he’s never fed up, he’s always got something to say, something to improve, and that pushes us forward, in the right direction. As I said, we have to keep going like this.
And before that, it’s history too. I also respect all the coaches who have been here and helped me a lot, and all the players too. But that’s the past and we really need to concentrate on the PSG of today. Everyone’s happy because we’re performing well and the results are there.
