This Sunday, as part of Matchday 17 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season, Paris Saint-Germain faced Paris FC at the Parc des Princes. Stéphane Gilli, PFC’s post manager, stopped in the mixed zone after PSG’s 2-1 victory. He spoke about the positives despite the result, as well as the upcoming Round of 32 Coupe de France match at the Parc des Princes in a week.
Gilli: “We came up against a very strong team.”
“I’m already very proud of the way my team performed. We lacked a bit of precision technically, especially on our build-up play where we had three or four opportunities to be more accurate and escape that initial press.
We did better in the second half, and that allowed us to establish periods of possession and a bit more control.” I won’t be original in saying that we faced a very strong team, both with the ball, in control, and also in pressing, and we need to be very precise against them.
Gilli: “We’ll have time to look at this match.”
“We’ll digest this match first. We’ll analyze it. Tomorrow (Monday), we’ll see what happens during the week. We have players who finished injured, like Alimani Gory, who had calf pain. We’ll have time to look at this match. It’s been over a week. We’ll look at this one first, how to analyze it, what we can improve,” comments reported by L’Equipe.
It’s understandable that there are positives to highlight in what was ultimately a close defeat, when many expected a several-goal margin. PSG was a bit inconsistent, but we must also acknowledge the credit given to a very cohesive and disciplined PFC. We always like to see a more attacking style of play, but the opponent also has their own objectives and constraints.
Several key attacking players were missing, and everyone knows there’s an element of risk in taking more risks against PSG. It’s also worth noting that coach Luis Enrique’s team aims to stifle the opposition, which doesn’t exactly encourage them to play out from the back.
The players led by Gilli therefore struggled at times to break forward, with a few costly mistakes. These ultimately proved costly, as seen with the opening goal. This is also part of playing at the highest level. Paris FC has things to improve, which is understandable. This match can serve as a learning experience. They now have a week to prepare for the Coupe de France match, giving them a slight advantage over PSG, who are playing the Trophée des Champions this Thursday.
