This Sunday at 8:45pm (CET) Paris Saint-Germain (1st) will face Olympique Lyonnais (5th) at the Parc des Princes as part of the 30th matchday of Ligue 1 2025-2026. In a press conference, Lyon striker DDDD spoke about this match and their Parisian opponent.
Mata: “They’re a real juggernaut”
“We know we’re facing the best team in the league. They’re a real juggernaut, I’ve seen it firsthand: they have a lot of quality.
For us, the most important thing is to stay focused on ourselves. The victory in Lorient gave us confidence. In football, anything is possible: we’re going to approach this match by giving ourselves every chance and trying to get some points.
It’s difficult to have possession against this kind of team, where there’s quality in every position. In the first leg, we put in a very strong performance, we looked Paris in the eye. We’re going to try to replicate that in the return leg, being more clinical.
Mata: “There were some very questionable decisions”
There’s no need for revenge in the first leg. There were some very questionable decisions, but we hope everything will be up to par in the return leg, with a great spectacle.
We’ll need to be focused.” “We need to give 100% and make as few mistakes as possible, because against this kind of team, you pay the price,” said Mata, as reported by the OL website.
Mata doesn’t mince words and clearly puts PSG front and center. It’s hard to do otherwise given their recent performances. However, the Lyon player and his team have no intention of simply admiring Paris and giving up.
There’s a real desire to pull off an upset, which would be invaluable in the race for European qualification. To that end, OL can build on their recent victory against Lorient last weekend, after a difficult period. There’s also the first leg, where they posed real problems for PSG, even if they were clearly weakened. There are still some valuable points to be gained from that match.
In any case, we have to play to the fullest, hoping for a special night against a PSG side that isn’t having any luck. It’s only by giving it our all that we can pick up points. It’s still regrettable that Mata took a swipe at the refereeing several months after the match (November). It seems preferable to focus on the game itself.
