Marquinhos: 'We know how important this game is'
Men's football•
The Paris Saint-Germain captain gave his thoughts to the media ahead of Thursday's Trophée des Champions encounter with Olympique de Marseille in Kuwait.
"It's a final and the chance to pick up a trophy. It's also a Classique against OM and we know how important this game is. We're going to try to win and keep improving so we can play our best football."
"We're motivated, it's always a special game against them. It's a Classique and what is more it's a final. We have a lot of wins in recent matches between us, but they won the last one. We have to put things back in place. Afraid of Marseille? No. We always respect our opponents. Regardless of the opponent, we're not afraid. It's our attitude and our philosophy to always want to win, to do what is needed on the pitch to win games. Each match has its own story. Even if Marseille have been struggling a bit in the league recently, it means nothing. We have the experience that anything can happen, especially in a final."
"It's always a source of motivation even if it wasn't the case at the start of my career when I came to Paris. Now, winning a trophy is a goal when the season starts. On Thursday, it's that kind of match and I can add a trophy to my list of honours, that motivates me."
"We have seen the fans here, there are a lot of them. The stadium will be full of Paris fans on Thursday. I have played the Trophée des Champions in many different places with PSG. It's an opportunity to showcase the league and the quality of the French championship. It's a match with a special flavour and that won't change, because it shows that you had a good season previously. We don't want to leave a trophy for our opponents because writing history is also about winning trophies. We have already experienced winning and losing finals."