Just before a last training session in the tranquility of their center in Bougival (Yvelines), Didier Ollé-Nicolle, the coach of the Parisiennes, appeared at a press conference next to Sara Däbritz to discuss the semi-final first leg of the Champions League, this Sunday (5 p.m., on DAZN via YouTube) against Lyonnaises at Groupama Stadium.
Can you start with a small point on the group?
DIDIER OLLE-NICOLLE. The group is almost complete. There are no particular injuries. We have the return of Constance Picaud (Editor’s note: the goalkeeper who suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in her right knee in August) who resumed training with us and Luana who had also been bothered with her knee. No worries there.
In what state of mind do you approach this semi-final?
With a lot of seriousness and a lot of fun. At the start of the season, when we set up our project, it was to have a very good championship and then go as far as possible in the two cups. Today we are having a very good championship where we are fighting with Lyon (Editor’s note: who have a five-point lead). We are in the final of the Coupe de France (Editor’s note: May 15 against Yzeure). And we have the chance to participate in this semi-final. So it’s a lot of happiness. There, little by little, we recovered from the world. It allowed us to prepare well for the match. And at my level it is therefore a lot of desire to do battle with this great Lyon team.
Does being five points behind Lyon in the league make this semi-final even more special?
Yes and no. Today there is a real advantage for Lyon at the level of the championship. But it was played out a bit last week: I saw them play at Fleury (1-2). They could very well have lost this match. They won it on incredible facts with an error from the goalkeeper. It’s part of a season. That’s why I say that whatever happens we will have had a very good championship. So they have a nice advantage in the league where they beat us in the first leg (6-1). But we have a nice advantage because we eliminated them in the Coupe de France (3-0). It’s gonna be beautiful.
Start of the session in a good mood for the Parisiennes on the eve of the semi-final first leg of the Champions League in Lyon pic.twitter.com/maxqCdgk6d
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What kind of match do you expect? I have always said that Lyon are a very good team. There are only internationals. Their centre-forward (Ada Hegerberg) was named the best player in the world. Wendie Renard and consorts, we no longer present them. It’s a team with a lot of experience and solidity. Like us. I want us to be very ambitious. We respect this Lyon team a lot, its record, its history, what it has done in French football pleads in its favor. But we have the idea of precisely doing something grandiose. Several players are out of contract like Marie Katoto. Could a victory in the Champions League push them to extend the adventure? Now is not the time… I have been repeating the same things for three months. When I arrived last summer we put a system in place. And it was long. And we still have a lot of progress to make. We saw for example during the two confrontations against Bayern that they had a very good collective and that they put us in difficulty as soon as two or three girls like Sara (Däbritz) were missing. So we still have to improve our squad at club level, but in small steps. My idea is simple: it is to keep this workforce in its vast majority. Especially all the girls who are part of the 14-15 that I play regularly. They know it. Because, already I appreciate them humanly, and then to move forward in terms of the game. We talk a lot about Marie-Antoinette Katoto because the position of center forward is very important. But the journey to get the ball is much more important than the end. So all the players who are at the end of their contract, I very much hope that they stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
