PSG: “We arrive at the key moment of the season being in our best shape”, relishes Luis Enrique

Lyon after Barcelona: “We were able to live up to this energy despite the fact that the opponent is a rival who knows how to play the ball individually and collectively and who was on a good streak, I think we made a great first half in terms of dominance, knowing how to attack and when to attack. It’s been a great week, we had a lot of fun, and we’re getting closer to the French championship title.”

The team's progress and its promises last winter in this area: “I believe we are at the start of a project. Just because you're going to play poorly in one or two matches doesn't mean it's a disaster. The growth line is never linear, there are ups and downs during a season, but I thought we were going to be better than at the start of the season, I had no doubt and it This is what I said, knowing the risk that it involves, but more and more I see my team better in different situations, in terms of domination and controlling more because for me that is one of the objectives that must have our team, be able to defend with the ball, it's a little different from the French culture and it's something we have to continue to work on and improve. But when you have the quality of players that I have, you can only think big and think about helping the team as much as possible to achieve its objectives. But today I really liked the performance against Lyon in terms of what it means to dominate a difficult opponent.”

Gonçalo Ramos: “If we pay attention to his ratio of playing time/goals scored, it is one of the best in Ligue 1. Having two, three or even four players capable of playing in 9, with Kylian Mbappé, Marco Asensio and Randal Kolo Muani, it's wonderful for a coach to have all these options. Coming back to Gonçalo, he is always there where he is needed, he helps when we don't have the ball, he offers solutions when we have it, he does the pressing... Today, we only missed a goal by Kolo Muani. But I'm happy with his performance. He also has a strong goals/matches played ratio. It’s obviously beneficial for the team to have attackers like that, attackers of this level.”

Bradley Barcola again very good on Sunday: “We signed Barcola because the sports management and the staff saw qualities that corresponded to what we were looking for in a winger. He can also play as a 9 and has the quality to evolve inside the game, but with Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani or Bradley Barcola, we have players capable of playing in depth, which gives us a lot of options. In the first half we were superb in terms of control in the opponent's field. The central defenders were wonderful, the midfield too, and when we were able to have 10, 12 touches, someone attacked deep and we generated goal situations, several happened like that. I think that mix of dominance and depth makes us a more difficult team to play against and I'm very happy. I really liked the first half.”

Kylian Mbappé did not play against OL: “As long as the parties concerned remain silent, I will have nothing more to say. And when they speak, it will be the time to express themselves.”

Achraf Hakimi: “Since the start of the season, Hakimi has found in our model an ideal and perfect approach to develop all his abilities. The players who arrive in the second line are very difficult to follow if you arrive with speed and have the ability to repeat efforts. Hakimi made a magnificent cross for Ramos' second goal. It's a pleasure for me to have full-backs of this level, of this potential, with this aggressiveness, this physical strength, and the only thing we are looking for is that Achraf Hakimi does not relax and that he plays every match to the fullest. This is the objective that I have as a coach, to try to improve something which is already at a very high level.

Different styles of goals on Sunday and since the start of the season: “Ultimately, our goal is to take advantage of what the opponent gives us. If it is low, we must be effective in the possession game. If he dares to put pressure on us, we have to attack in depth. If he presses us high, we should take advantage of the spaces. In fact, it all depends on where the spaces are, we try to identify it. Over the months, we identify the best situations. We start to see game situations that we already master and we control what we need to do. As a coach, I think we arrive at the key moment of the season in our best shape and above all, with many options, because there can always be a suspension or an injury. I think that today we can say that we have a great team of very high level, it is obvious that there are differences between the players but we operate as a team, in a fairly global way and, I believe, at a high level.”

Getting to this level at this stage of the season without key players like Mbappé and Dembélé, substitutes on Sunday: “I was told recently that I make six changes on average from one match to the next. Of course there are risks, but I prefer to have 23 players involved and for that they have to play important matches. It is my goal as a coach to make a better team for our fans, for the club, with an attractive way of playing, the fact that we never stop attacking, with the goal of making my team better collectively and individually. I can't improve the 23, they can't all have minutes, but it's one of the characteristics of my model as a coach since I started on the benches and it's one of my goals. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don’t.”

Comments collected at a press conference