Thomas Tuchel: 'We're always ready'

THE SQUAD

"Icardi, Marquinhos and Mbappé are absentees. All the others are in the squad. Those who are coming back into it after working in small groups, and then we have another session tomorrow morning and we'll decide which players are able to play the game."

FLORENZI

"I'm happy to have him with us. I've followed him a lot. He played for the same club for a long time, which is something I like. He has been one of Roma's best players, and one of the best in Serie A. I like his attacking style of play, he's very active on the pitch. We want to see the best possible Florenzi in Paris. I think he's just the sort of player we need on the right to replace Thomas Meunier. There's no question of us changing tactics. We want to improve the quality of the squad. He's available for tomorrow so, if he's ready, he could play." 

THE DEFEAT AT LENS

"Our performance wasn't that bad given we'd had a truncated pre-season. We were missing a lot of players, but I'm happy with what we produced. There was a good rhythm to the first half. We would have needed Lens to make a mistake, and they never did. I have a squad that is ready to battle. It wasn't the start we wanted, but the season is long."

MARSEILLE

"It's a bit strange to play such an important game just three matches into the season. It's a big game in the French league, it'd be better to play it later when the players are at their best physically. That's never the case by the third round of games, but we're not afraid. We're always ready, we're strong at the Parc des Princes, it's just a shame for the league to play this game so early in the season. We know the fans want us to win and we're going to do all we can to do that for them."

A FAVOURITE?

"One team being considered favourites changes nothing for us, whether it be us or Marseille. We have to give the best of ourselves on the pitch whatever happens. The timing of this game is strange, but we have some players coming back to fitness, and we're going to look at the system so that it's the best possible. I like this squad, my players are competitors. We have to accept the situation, it's not easy, but that's how it is. Marseille seem better prepared, but we have quality. All the players want to win this match, because we want to win it for the supporters."