Jean-Louis Gasset: "We payed dearly"

Is the score too harsh?

In the first half, the score was very hard for us to bear. Paris didn’t have a large opening and owes its only goal to Draxler. If you don’t make PSG bleed when they’re experiencing self-doubt, it’s very difficult. At 1-0, I wanted to stick to the same strategy so that we didn’t concede another goal. However, they scored this goal too early and we suffered because of it. From that moment, Paris’ confidence soared, which allowed them to play their game and show the immense difference in skill level between our two teams.

Was PSG too strong of an opponent?
There were things to do in order to counter Paris: play low pressure defense and look for counter-attack opportunities. We did this perfectly during the first period. With each one of our counter-attacks we got the better of them and crossed the ball. But as I said before the match, in order to earn a good result, you have to make Paris doubt themselves, take the lead and score. It’s now been three matches that we haven’t scored. At the instant when we fell behind, we had to change our strategy, which provided counter-attack situations to players like Rabiot, Verratti, Di Maria and Cavani. That’s when we saw the difference in skill level. Paris has an extraordinary offensive. Since the Trophée des Champions Paris has averaged three to four goals per game.

What is the state of mind of the team?

Before the match, we already knew that Paris was stronger but it’s our first defeat of the season and I find that by conceding four goals we paid dearly, above all after our first half. Right now, we’re going to put ourselves to work in order to prepare ourselves well for our week with three matches. We’re going to try to take points in order to truly enter into this championship because, for the moment, we’re just playing well occasionally.