Tuchel: "Our best game of the season" – Ligue 1

At the Parc des Princes

Thomas, it's a deserved victory for PSG …
Thomas Tuchel : Yes. We had to play with a lot of quality. We did it. It is a magnificent performance. A great collective effort. A lot of structure and possession. We closed the spaces and we controlled the counters throughout the match. Which is very hard to do because I think Lille is one of the best counter teams in Europe. And we did it thanks to our pressing, our structure. It was a great effort, very serious and very disciplined. Congratulations to the team.

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Julian Draxler was the incumbent in place of Adrien Rabiot. The latter was he still punished after his delay in Marseille, and is it a clue to the composition that will be aligned in Naples Tuesday?
Adrien was not punished. It was like that. It was my decision against Marseille and Julian did a good game. It was difficult there, without important players, but he took his responsibilities, he scored and I decided for Julian but not against Adrien. We decided to play with a double 6 to control the counters with five players (three central backs and two environments, ed). It was necessary because Lille always attacked four against … It was a very difficult decision, but it's my duty to make this kind of decision. Julian deserved to play. But it was hard for Adrien.

Edinson Cavani was not in the group against Lille. Will he be handed over to Naples?
He did the first part of the training with the group on Wednesday, before working alone. On Thursday, he started with the band but did not finish. Strikes were made and he felt muscular discomfort. I did not want to take a chance, even to put him on the bench. I hope it will be good for Tuesday. It was not 100% yesterday (Thursday). When he trains without problems, he will find the team.

"Naples is another style"

This match against Lille is it an ideal preparation for Naples?
It was a complicated week. It was a tough win in Marseille and it's hard to focus on the next match. So we can be very happy to see a reaction like that. I think it was our best game of the season on 90 minutes. It is necessary against this opponent. But that will also be the case on Tuesday. Naples is another style. It's a big challenge. It's good because the team has confidence.

The PSG seems to have found its marks in this system three behind …
We can say that. It's always possible to change things. It was different in Marseille, with Marco alone at the recovery. There were small adjustments to make with two 6. But the five players (three defenders and two midfielders), and the whole team did well.

Kylian Mbappé still happens to surprise you?
Yes. It's a monster. It will be one of the best in the world. When? I do not know … But that will be the case.

PSG could he have done better in the use of the ball?
You have not been satisfied? (smile) No, it's not my opinion (smile), I do not agree. We had three chances in the first period. It's hard because Lille plays very tight, with a lot of energy. It is necessary to move the balloon very quickly and simply, to open the spaces. It's hard. It's the hardest thing to do in football and we did it very well. We stayed in position. We could do counter pressing and transitions.

Interviewed at a press conference