Winner of the Coupe de France but quite angry against the arbitration which did not protect his players, this is the feeling of Thomas Tuchel after the 1-0 victory in the final against Saint-Etienne.
Mbappé and Kehrer’s injuries:
“I have no news, Thilo took a hit here (above the hip) and he had to come out because of this injury because it was not possible to do sprints. With Kylian, everyone saw … I have no news but it’s a real injury. I do not know what to say. This is the third game in a row against Saint-Etienne and the third red card, for the third time in the first 30 minutes. It’s not when they’re tired or anything like that. That they play a game like that in the final I’m very surprised and that’s not good news for us, not at all. I am of course very happy that we won but it is now necessary that we remain calm and patient because there is no news. Examinations tonight? I don’t know, I think.
A little worried about Mbappé’s situation?
“But did you see the situation? Everyone has seen this situation and is worried! Everyone who has seen this mistake is worried! And afterwards, I saw that they also put a blow to Leandro Paredes. Of course I am worried! “
Mbappé’s injury that makes you think of saving Neymar for PSG / OL?
” No. If Ney is there, he will play and I cannot play without Marquinhos, without Thiago (Editor’s note: the two were by his side) and without Neymar. What do we do ? The matches to be played are finals and we will play with the best team. We are playing to win the fourth title this season and we will arrive with everyone I hope. There are great doubts now, but we must wait and be patient. We will play with the best team possible. ”
How to explain that the PSG did not kill the match?
” There are several reasons. The first is that it’s always possible in a final and always complicated. These are different circumstances, we didn’t play for 5 to 6 months, like Saint-Etienne, but we were the big favorites and we had a lot to lose and them nothing. They did a very good pressing, with a lot of risk and we didn’t find any solutions. We may have lost confidence a little, the distances weren’t … We couldn’t find any positions to get out of the pressing but, nevertheless, after their first big opportunity, we had several opportunities to score the second. I don’t want to be too critical because I didn’t expect too much from this game. It was not an easy game to play after the red card. Normally, it’s clear that we can control the game in a better way, but today it was difficult for us. But that’s the best thing: we were here to win this final and we won it and now we have things to analyze and improve. It’s best for a coach. We now have a week before another final and we will still be ready to win. “
PSG players sufficiently protected by the referee?
“It started with the fault on Neymar (after 20 seconds). It was clear that no! Of course not. If we take three yellow cards after this foul on Kylian … We took three yellow cards! And at the start, he gave a yellow card for this fault … After that, it was us who took three to claim and protect our players. These are not the same criteria! (he stops then resumes) And I always said that, also for the other players. It’s a game for the players, the spectators are there to watch the players, everyone is in front of the television to watch the players and it is most important that we protect the players, all the players. Not just ours, ALL PLAYERS. The matches are for the players and it wasn’t like that today. “
Verratti replacing at kick-off for physical reasons?
“Not at all, he is 100% ready but we decided to play 4-4-2 with two No.6s and there was a decision to be made between him and Leo Paredes. This is the first time that I have left Marco on the bench and he is totally ready to play, it was a super tough decision as both deserved to play but it was a decision for Leo because he was very strong against Dortmund. So I decided to leave the two together (with Gueye). It was like that, there were no other things. “
–
