João Neves: 'It's motivating to be defending champions'
Men's football•
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder spoke to UEFA ahead of the Matchday 6 meeting with Athletic Club.
"Perhaps some people underestimate me because of my size and think that I'm not powerful. But you must never forget that football intelligence is important on the pitch. When you're not the most physical, you have to be intelligent. I can't explain it, it's instinctive. It's something that has nothing to do with physique, it's all in the head."
"It has worked in my favour! In the sense that in a challenge, my opponents thought they could easily get the better of me. And they were then surprised to see my commitment, because I give 100% every time, in each challenge, in every aspect of the game, even at a set-piece. I'm not necessarily the first player that opponents are going to mark, because I'm the smallest. So I took advantage of that, working on my positioning and my timing. Then it was a question of repeating that, in training and during games, I wanted to perfect that. And then it became natural, something instinctive."
"I think that football today is increasingly tactical. And I think football intelligence, the science of positioning, of timing, the ability to play the ball with one or two touches depending on the situation, have become the most important aspects of the game. Of course, stamina, strength and speed help your performance, but I don't think they're the most important things. That's my vision of football. You have to be more clever, anticipate, always be one step ahead of your opponent."
"I never really imagined myself as a forward or defender. Playing midfield was always the best choice for me as I wanted to be as complete a player as possible. And in that sense, I think I chose the best position for me! At PSG, we play in a system that allows all the players to be dangerous, to make goals and score. And the stats show that. You have to take advantage of every opportunity, take risks. I think I've improved in that regard. It's an aspect of my game that I wanted to improve, but I've never rushed it. This season, it's rather positive and I have to keep going in the same vein. My dad always told me that the most difficult thing to do is not to make it, but to stay there at the top level. So the hardest part is starting, I have to maintain this standard. And above all because the most important thing isn't to score, but to win."
"My goals are always collective. It's very motivating to be defending champions, but it's also added pressure. But we take each game as it comes. We have started the league phase well, but we want to finish in the top eight. Last season, it was more difficult in terms of results, but we won the trophy in the end. Our approach was that we have nothing to lose, and we're in the same state of mind this season. We have that pressure of being defending champions, but we know we're a good team and that we can win the Champions League again."