Paris FC will not travel to the Parc des Princes as a mere sparring partner. On Monday evening (9:10 PM), for the Round of 16 of the Coupe de France, the capital club wants to believe in an upset against PSG, particularly drawing on the lessons from the match on January 4, which they narrowly lost in the league (2-1).
A little over a week after that frustrating defeat, Stéphane Gilli’s men face the European champions with one idea in mind: to exploit the rare weaknesses seen in Luis Enrique’s team’s play.
In a press conference, the Paris FC coach hinted that his team had not taken full advantage of certain situations. “I can’t go into too much detail, but against their counter-pressing, we could have better exploited some situations. They are one of the most open teams; there are spaces in depth,” he explained.
The Paris FC staff has also identified, with video support, several missed opportunities. “In the video, we saw that sometimes, Willem (Geubbels) and Alimani (Gory) could have been better served,” Gilli added, convinced that his team can hurt PSG more by being more precise in the final action.
“We hope to play a bad trick on PSG”
Tactically, a five-man defense could be set up again. “We can play in different systems, but the one with five is feasible,” the coach confirmed, before specifying: “I chose it based on the players available.” But this time, Paris FC does not want to just defend. “We will try to play a bit more, to have more control,” he announces.
The objective is clearly stated: “The goal is to qualify and go as far as possible in the Cup; it would be good for the club, the players, and confidence.” He concluded with ambition: “We hope to play a bad trick on PSG, but we will need to be more precise. I have good hopes of doing something.”
The message is clear: PSG has been warned, Paris FC arrives with a plan… and ambitions.
