Layvin Kurzawa: 'Simply happy'
The Paris Saint-Germain defender was not spared by injury but still enjoyed his 2018/19 season that saw him pick up another league winner's medal.
Layvin, Paris Saint-Germain won its eighth league title. How was it for you?
It's fabulous for a player to win the league. And for me, as a Frenchman winning it for the third time, I'm speechless. Winning the title once is already a lot, but doing it three times is extraordinary.
You only got back to full training in November. How were the first few months of the season when the team won its first 14 matches?
I was very happy for us. I wasn't on the pitch, but seeing them play like that...they kept on winning, I was simply happy. There was a new coach, new technical staff, the return of the world champions and the other players who'd been to the World Cup, but it's true that we started the season in great style. After the World Cup, everyone was happy to come back and start the league well.
What's your take on the 5-0 win over Lyon at the Parc des Princes?
It was the work of the whole team that Kylian finished off with his quadruple. There was also Kimpembe's sending off in the first half, but you saw the strength the team had in overcoming that. Kylian is in the side to score goals and he could have scored eight that night. He scored four, which is amazing. It just goes to show the talent he has.
The end of the season was more difficult. The team had to work hard to win the title...
You have to roll up your sleeves and go for it, which we weren't able to do at times, but that will serve as a lesson for the future, we learn every day. And we hope next year that everything will go better. We have to keep working and never let ourselves be overwhelmed by disappointment. After being knocked out by Manchester United, our heads dropped a bit as we were very disappointed not to have taken that step. It's up to us to lift our heads and keep winning as we had been able to do at the start of the season.