Marquinhos: "We're all really happy to be playing together"

Marqui, you could certainly say that the team's fans and the parc des princes crowd turned up during this season's group stage...

"The Parc is our strength. We feel good and full of confidence when we've got our fans with us, especially with the great atmosphere that they created for every home game in the group stage. Even away from home, they were there, but the Parc is special. We're strong and picked up two good results, and that last-second goal against Newcastle shows the power of the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes and of our fans."

THERE WAS THAT INCREDIBLE TIFO AGAINST DORTMUND, TOO...

"I think that getting a European campaign underway with such a wonderful tifo and such a great atmosphere meant that we could feel that the fans were there, pushing us with every pass. That shows our strength, and it needs to be like that all of the time. It's really important for us to have that extra strength with us."

YOU WITNESSED THE END OF THE GAME AT HOME TO NEWCASTLE IN QUITE AN UNUSUAL WAY...

"I was injured, so I went to watch the game from the stands, but before full time, I went down to the dressing room. I saw on the TV that a penalty had been given, so I went out into the tunnel area to watch the penalty from the touchline. Those were great scenes because that was an important goal that shook things up ahead of the final group game."

HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THE LAST-16 TIE AGAINST Real Sociedad?

"They'll be two important games for us, but we know how strong we are at home. In the first leg, which will be at home, we'll really need to push, be confident and do everything we can to get a good result because that's our strength, too."

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE TEAM'S STYLE OF PLAY?

"I think that at the start of the season, there were a lot of new things to take on board, not least the coach's philosophy. We felt that in the first few training sessions. We've also needed to get to know each other within the team during these European outings, and I think that we've improved a lot, even though we ended the group stage with two draws. I like what we've learned during this European campaign, though. When you look at the group, we're one of the teams that created the most chances in it, even though we played against some big sides that know how to defend well and are tactically strong. We hit the post several times, and the other teams' keepers made a lot of saves. We've also got room for improvement in attack, but that shows the team's value and strength."

IT'S ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT WE'RE ONE OF THE YOUNGEST TEAMS IN THE COMPETITION.

"For me, it's really good to have a young team that, despite being so young, has a lot of character and talent, and I think that the coach develops young players really well. We were the third-youngest team in the Champions League group stage, and as the captain, I want to help my teammates as much as possible. I try to pass onto them the experience that I've gained from playing in this competition for the last ten years. I'll always be there for them, and I think that all of the young players have felt really comfortable since making their debut here."

ARE YOU SURPRISED BY WHAT Warren Zaïre-Emery HAS ACCOMPLISHED?

"I'm not really surprised by Warren; we see him every day in training. He's been with us for a year now, and we've known that he's talented. He's also very well-educated and very professional. He works hard, is really attentive and gives everything. When you've got talent and the right mentality, it's not really surprising when you achieve big things."

HOW HAS THE TEAM'S DEFENSIVE SETUP EVOLVED?

"We've worked a lot on the defensive side of things because there's been a lot of change and I've got quite a few new teammates. There's a lot of quality here; the new players are really good. I think that the coach has a lot of options, and it's been really nice to get to know them better and better. I'm really confident that we can do great things with a really good defence, and that's important because the coach has said since day one that he was going to be very demanding with us. The defenders have to play very high up the pitch, and we need to take risks and play with the ball a lot. He shows us a lot of videos, is always talking to us and teaches us a lot. We're all really happy to be playing together and to be playing for a coach that takes real care of his players. That's really important for our development."

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP LUIS ENRIQUE'S METHODS?

"He's a coach that is always trying to make us stronger and more relaxed, and that involves having the ball. We need to be confident in possession because we can really hurt other teams, and we're a side that is always trying to press the man on the ball. If you want to win the ball, you need to run a lot and to know how to press your opponent. We've worked on that a lot since Luis Enrique has been here, and he tells us to make the most of the times when we have the ball because the more possession we have, the less danger we're in. We also need to know how to create chances, though, and we've been doing that well for a while now. There are two phases: possession in our own half and possession in the opposition half. I think that the coach has got us onto the right track, even though he still has things to improve upon. We've also got things to build upon from the group stage, but we've got a good basis from which to approach the rest of the competition in the spring."