Pochettino: 'Show that the Coupe de France is important for us'
Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the PSG TV and the assembled media ahead of Wednesday's Coupe de France semi-final versus Montpellier:
MONTPELLIER
"Montpellier are a very difficult opponent to play against, with good individual players. We haven’t had much time to prepare for this match. It's a cup semi-final and it's a different context from the league. It all depends on our performance. We hope to get the result we want. Of course, the Coupe de France is an objective. We want to beat Montpellier but it will be difficult. All the matches are difficult. After the draw against Rennes, we have to move on and be ready on Wednesday. To continue to do well in the Coupe de France is important. Qualifying for the final is the club's objective."
TEAM SPIRIT
"It's always difficult to follow up after a big disappointment like Rennes. We didn't feel good because we missed the opportunity to close the gap on Lille. It will be tough to win the league, but there are still two games to go. We have to keep believing. We were disappointed and angry about the result, and about not having shown enough quality to win the game. But we have to move on to be ready because a Coupe de France semi-final is important for the team. We have to show it on Wednesday. We will have to approach this game in a different way and show from the first minute that we want to qualify for the final."
END OF SEASON
"We are in the running to reach our objectives. There are not many games left and we will see where we end up at the end of the season. The objective is always to win the competitions we enter, and the Champions League was an important objective. Even if we win Ligue 1 and the Cup, there will be the disappointment of not winning the Champions League. In the league, we are three points behind Lille. In the Coupe de France, we are equal to the other three teams. It would be good to win them to start a new season with a new strategy, a new plan and a new project."
MARCO VERRATTI AND KYLIAN MBAPPÉ
"We are all very disappointed for Marco. We have lost a player for the end of the season with key matches to play. He wants to recover as soon as possible and we hope he can be back for the Euro with Italy. Kylian has had an injury and we have to be careful. He has trained very well in the last few days and he is fully ready to play. He is an important player, as the statistics show. It's difficult to do without a player like him. He is one of the best players in the team. The club counts on him, I count on him. We hope to have him for many years to come."