The elimination of OM in the Champions League on Wednesday is not necessarily good news for Paris FC before meeting them. “Already, this is bad news for French football,” says Stéphane Gilli. Then, I think that indeed, they will be keen to atone for their elimination, for themselves and their supporters. There will be a reaction of pride. So, it’s going to be a very difficult match. If we start against OM with the same rhythm and intensity as against Angers, it will be complicated. »
The Parisian coach wanted to defend his counterpart Roberto De Zerbi. “He is often criticized, but he is a coach who has ideas, playing principles that are well established. We have to admit that he brought a lot of things to football so I have respect for him. If he adopted this strategy, these players, it’s because he has his reasons. As a coach, when we put a system or players in place, we think that at that moment, they are the best and the best team to perform in the match. »
Against OM, the Paris FC coach should once again renew this three-line defense which provides a little more security. “They have players with very explosive speed profiles who are capable of going one on one,” continues Gilli. We know that it’s a team that tries to attack, if we play with four defenders, the intervals. So we try to give them as little space as possible. »
In the locker room where there are real Parisians and Marseillais (Kebbal, the Lopez brothers), this Paris FC – OM is necessarily special. “Playing OM is a mini-clasico for us,” smiles midfielder Adama Camara. There are Marseillais but frankly for the moment, we are not talking. We are all focused on the match. Maybe we’ll see afterwards… Compared to the Champions League, OM will want to catch up. But we were already expecting a big match. The victory at the Parc gave us a lot of confidence. When we manage to beat PSG, then we can beat any other team in the world. »
Italian international Diego Coppola has signed
As announced, Diego Coppola, the Italian international central defender (22 years old) was loaned by Brighton. He was present this Thursday at Orly. “I am very happy with his arrival,” continues Stéphane Gilli. It’s an athletic, powerful profile. He played in Serie A, for three seasons he was in England. He’s a player who is capable of playing under pressure, he will bring us power, it’s a profile that we didn’t have. »
Effectively, Maxime Lopez (thigh) and Hamari Traoré (knee) were spared this week. De Smet (tendinitis, recovery Monday), Lees-Melou (shin, recovery Monday), Chergui (ischios, recovery in a month) are still absent as well as Dicko, Hamel and Gueye.
Worth a look
