Danilo Pereira: 'I'm lucky to be a part of this history'

Danilo, after two seasons here,  how do you feel? 

"Now that it's my second season, the first as an official Parisian player, I already know everyone. The atmosphere and my day-to-day life are different because I know the club well, I know everyone, so it's easy to feel integrated. I can say that my integration went well and when that is the case you feel freer, happier too. I think that this was the biggest change for me."

You played a lot this season, that's a show of confidence from the coach...

"Yes, I still hope to have the coach's confidence, my teammates' confidence and to play as many games as possible. I know there are great players here, there's a lot of competition, but I''m confident and I know what I can do to help the team, so I'm happy with that and to have earned that confidence."

How do you look back on your season? 

"It was a good season for me, but I would have liked to have done more, for us to go further because we were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League. We finished the season well by winning Ligue 1 and that was important because it was the 10th title in the club's history."

You said that you felt more liberated this season. We also had the feeling that you were taking more leadership on the field. Was it important for you to move to the next level here in Paris?

"Of course it's very important because I managed to show what I can bring to the team. Not only as a player, but also as a person with my character. I think it was important for the fans, for the people who work here and for me as well obviously."

You were also able to be decisive by scoring 5 goals...

"It was important for me, everyone saw me as a defensive player. But I can also score goals, I can be higher up the pitch, and that has been evident this season and I'm happy with that."

In the last few games, the players you exchanged the most passes with were Messi and Hakimi. How did you create this connection with new players?

"I play on the right side of midfield and Messi and Hakimi also play on the right. So they are the teammates I am closest to on the pitch and they are two players who can make the difference going forward so it is easy to play with them. When you give the ball to Messi, you know he's going to do something special and Hakimi is quick so if you give him the ball in behind you know he's always going to get there and then play some key passes or even score goals."

As you said, it's been an up and down season, what do you learn from a season like this? 

"It's difficult when you are eliminated from a competition. When you arrive at home or even in the dressing room and you see your team-mates who are very disappointed it is always difficult.  But we as a club have to learn from the failures. We, as players, have to manage our emotions better."

Things do get better on the other hand, and the 10th title win wasn't easy despite the good lead we had, how do you explain that?

"The Ligue 1 is a very difficult championship. To win this championship you have to work hard and have sacrifice a lot because every match is very physical. You run a lot and you always have to be attentive because there are good players, good coaches, good staffs too. It's a very competitive league."

How does it feel to be part of Paris Saint-Germain's history with this tenth league title?

"I feel lucky. Lucky to be here, to be able to be in Paris' history with these names. There's Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. So I'm enjoying being here."