This Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain (22nd) take on Stuttgart (24th) at the Mercedes-Benz Arena for Matchday 8 of the Champions League 2024-2025 league phase. Anthony Rouault, the German club’s 23-year-old central defender, spoke to Le Parisien. He insists that competing with the Parisian club is possible.
Rouault “We’ll have to trust ourselves, and play our soccer”.
“The match of fear?
Fear? No. It’s an important match, that’s for sure, but if you go by the odds, a draw could be enough. We need at least that. It’s a scenario that would also suit Paris. We mustn’t make any calculations, as that would be too risky. We’ll have to trust ourselves and play our soccer, because we’ve got enough to put them in danger.
Rouault: “It’s not normal for a team at this level to have collapsed like that”.
Are you expecting to suffer?
Paris played a very high-level game and deserved to win, but for me, Rúben Dias’s exit changed a lot of things. In his absence, City’s defence is no longer the same. It’s not normal for a team at this level to have collapsed like that.
It’s clear that Paris has some very good strikers, but we’ve got a lot to answer for too. In the Bundesliga, we’ve been able to rival teams like Dortmund, Bayern and Leipzig. We can compete with PSG.
Rouault “If we give them too much freedom with the ball, it could get complicated”.
Is there any Parisian in particular we should be wary of?
For me, it’s Dembélé. He’s one of the most difficult players to defend against. He can go right or left. It will also be important to reduce the technical activity of their midfielders. If we give them too much freedom with the ball, it’s going to be complicated.
Rouault: “There will be a little less speed down the flanks, and that’s good news.
The absence of Nuno Mendes
It can only be good (He laughs). Hernandez is likely to replace him. It’s not the same profile at all, he’ll probably be more solid defensively but, in terms of attacking contribution, he’ll create less danger. There’ll be a little less speed down the flank, and that’s good news.
The great thing about PSG is that when they win, every match is often played down. Whether they score 5 goals, don’t concede any or dominate, there’s always an explanation. We can understand this way of thinking, but it’s important to recognize that a team that wins, dominates and creates numerous chances is not just another team. We also know that Stuttgart want to believe, and that’s logical.
That said, if the German club want to qualify, they’ll need more than just words. PSG dominate all their games, so they’ll need a good opponent to get the better of them. It’s worth noting that Rouault fears Dembélé, a player who could single-handedly set the opposition defence on fire. No room for calculation. We need to become the PSG of a few years ago and give our opponents no hope. Paris is starting to strike fear into the hearts of the fans again, and we need to keep it up.
