Marquinhos congratulates Thomas Tuchel for presiding over the victory of the PSG Champions League at Man United

Marquinhos congratulated Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel for developing the game plan that helped the club defeat Manchester United in their 2-0 16 Champions League clash in the first leg.

Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe scored at Old Trafford to give advantage to the French giants before the return leg at Parc des Princes on March 6th.

Brazilian Marquinhos, who led the midfield alongside Marco Verratti, highlighted the pre-match encounter with Tuchel, which he said was essential to PSG's performance.

Marquinhos congratulated coach Thomas Tuchel for guiding Paris Saint-Germain to a decisive victory

"This meeting was very important," said the Brazilian, who usually plays at the center.

"The coach gave us the strategy. He started with the defensive aspect, highlighting the qualities of the attack of the opponent and his speed at the break.

"He insisted we do not lose the ball too soon after recovering midfield."

German coach Tuchel took over from Unai Emery last year as the Qatar-backed club sought to shine on the continental stage after four consecutive quarter-final eliminations, followed by two consecutive 16-run outings.

The victory was achieved despite the exclusions of the stars Neymar and Edinson Cavani injured.

PSG remained compact throughout the match, Julian Draxler often collapsing to strengthen the midfielder.

Thiago Silva thinks that a solid defense helped beat Manchester United in the Champions League clash

"Defensively, we were solid. We showed that with the right state of mind, we could do great things, "said Captain Thiago Silva.

Often criticized for missing the "club culture" key to success in Europe, PSG has approached the match without hbadle despite the absence of two players having scored 30 goals in Ligue 1 and seven times in the Champions League .

"It's not just thanks to the coach," Silva said.

"It's also the entire staff who works to give us information about the other team. All the staff had told us would happen on the ground.

Kylian Mbappe scored for PSG and strengthened in the absence of Edinson Cavani and Neymar

Even without Neymar and Cavani.

"These are world clbad players but we are still a world clbad team without them," added Draxler.

The leaders of Ligue 1, who have already almost won the national title, now have three weeks to prepare for the return leg in Paris, where they will try to avoid a mistake similar to the debacle of the Nou Camp.

"We should stop being scared," said striker Kylian Mbappe, author of PSG's second goal against United.