Wednesday, 27 February 2019

Coupe de France, quarter-finals

Groupama Stadium, Lyon

 Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 SM Caen 

Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "The players turned in a very serious performance. That was enough to qualify us and that was the most important thing. Congratulations to the lads. We played the match we expected to play and we showed that we can bounce back, as a team [after the 2-0 league defeat to Monaco on Sunday]. I'm happy that Memphis [Depay] scored. He was very active, as was the rest of the team, and he was focused and committed - on top of scoring and setting one up."

Fabien Mercadal (SM Caen coach): "We wanted to respect the Coupe de France. We had the first chances, even though we were on the back foot. We could have caused Lyon to doubt themselves had we been able to open the scoring. But it was a bridge too far for us tonight - and we lost one of our best players [Alexander Djiku, sent off in the 82nd minute]. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with on daily basis."

Roazhon Park, Rennes

 Stade Rennais FC 2-0 US Orléans 

Julien Stéphan (Stade Rennais FC coach): "Our first half was less than perfect but we managed to create chances. Still, in terms of rhythm and intensity, it wasn't enough. It could be that we've played a lot of matches recently, or simply that our last two have taken a lot of energy out of us. But our second half was really promising and I knew we would open the scoring sooner or later. The fact that our league match on Saturday was postponed [to allow Rennes to prepare for their UEFA Europa League last 16 clash with Arsenal] changed my team selection, but we had plenty of respect for this team as we know they can be dangerous."

Didier Ollé-Nicolle (US Orléans coach): "I have no regrets even though I am disappointed not to have qualified. When you prepare for a match that could get you to a semi-final - even if it's away to a Ligue 1 club, you're hoping to qualify. Rennes are an excellent team, we knew that. They took us seriously and fielded their best team. The fact that the LFP postponed their league match against Nîmes made things easier for them, but that's part of the game. We managed to mix it in collective and athletic terms, but technically we only lasted about 20 minutes before the Rennes machine got rolling, and you could clearly see the difference between the sides."

Tuesday, 26 February, 2019

 Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Dijon FCO 

Thomas Tuchel (PSG coach): "I'm happy because my players showed the could change positions, change systems, without any drop in quality. Angel Di Maria won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2014 and was key in that final. For me it's a gift to have a player like him. In the absence of [Edinson] Cavani, Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappé, he was crucial. Dijon were very brave."

Antoine Kombouaré (Dijon coach): "It was difficult. PSG did everything to start well. I watched their last two games and thought they might be out of gas, but this simply wasn't the case. Thomas Tuchel put out his best possible team. He took us very seriously and it made it tough for us. We got better in the second half and got close to their goal, but we weren't clinical enough."