They knew that a draw would be enough to qualify for the playoffs and they achieved it brilliantly. Dominant for the most part and solid in defence, the AS Monaco players kept a clean sheet to secure a 0-0 draw against Juventus. A few moments after the match, Vanderson, Jordan Teze and Philipp Köhn appeared in the mixed zone feeling like they had done a job well done. Extracts.
Good night, Vandi. Firstly, congratulations on your man of the match trophy!
It wasn’t my decision. Like I said, the whole team deserved this trophy because we did a good job tonight. It’s a good night and we have achieved our goal of reaching the Champions League playoffs. We need to maintain this mentality in the next game against Rennes, which is also very important.
What is the predominant feeling tonight?
It is a relief to achieve one of our season’s goals. We know that we will go through more difficult times, so we must take advantage of nights like this to regain our confidence and win again in Ligue 1.
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I don’t have a preference. I just hope we get as far as possible; We will have to work together as a team. It’s the Champions League, there are no easy games. As I already said, we will have to maintain this mentality against any rival.
VandersonOn potential playoff opponent
The coach said that you and Caio were better protected defensively with a three-man system. Is that your feeling too?
Playing with three defenders gives more freedom to the full-backs, as happens with any team. In fact, there is more defensive protection, as demonstrated tonight with the clean sheet.
Would you like to play against PSG or Newcastle in the next round?
I don’t have a preference. I just hope we get as far as possible; We will have to work on everything with the whole team. It’s the Champions League, there are no easy games. As I already said, we will have to maintain this mentality against any opponent.
We achieved our goal, so we are very happy even though we didn’t celebrate much in the locker room. We have found a good structure, which is important. Now we have to build on that. It is a real boost of morale to have achieved two consecutive draws after the defeat against Madrid and to have qualified for the playoffs.
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Jordan Teze Regarding the classification
Jordan Teze’s reaction
Good night, Jordan. We imagine that tonight there will be a feeling of satisfaction after qualifying for the playoffs.
Yes, of course, because it is a goal achieved, so we are very happy even though we did not celebrate much in the locker room. We have found a good structure, which is important. Now we have to build on that. It is a real boost of morale to have achieved two consecutive draws after the defeat against Madrid and to have qualified for the playoffs. Now we will have to see what we need to improve to win games.
Would you rather play PSG or Newcastle in the next round?
I don’t have any particular preference, although we often play against PSG in the league. However, the Champions League is a different game, especially in terms of atmosphere. In any case, they will be two difficult games.
We knew that a draw was enough to advance, so our main objective was to keep a clean sheet. That was one of our goals and we were smart enough to preserve that result, which ensured qualification. We defended very well and were unlucky with Folarin Balogun’s disallowed goal and Maghnes Akliouche’s chance.
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Philipp KöhnOn qualifying for the playoffs
Can you tell us about the 3-man defense?
It was good, we were really solid. We really had to defend well because we knew we would qualify if we didn’t concede a goal. So we defended well, that’s the most important thing. (His role?) At first, the coach just asked me to do my job and defend well. Then, if I felt comfortable, I could push up to challenge my opponent. I have more freedom in that position because I can also play on the wing or in the middle. The most important thing is that I was solid. The coach gave me a lot of confidence.
Philipp Köhn’s reaction
Good evening, Felipe. What is your first impression after qualifying for the playoffs?
We knew that a draw was enough to advance, so our main objective was to keep a clean sheet. That was one of our goals and we were smart enough to preserve that result, which meant qualifying.
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We defended very well and were unlucky with Folarin Balogun’s disallowed goal and Maghnes Akliouche’s chance. In the last two games we did a good job defensively and we communicated well on the field. We saw that everyone helped their teammates, which is the most important thing. So I’m very happy to have kept a clean sheet and qualified for the playoffs.
A few words about Denis Zakaria’s magnificent performance in defense.
He played a very good game, as did the entire defense. But I’m not surprised he gave a performance like that. With injuries you had to be clever to find solutions and the coach made a good decision.
That makes two clean sheets in a row. We can imagine the satisfaction.
We have to go game by game. We have kept two clean sheets, but we have not managed to score in either game. The first objective was to keep a clean sheet; Now we need to make the difference and win 1-0. We have the foundations; We need to take advantage of them in the league in every game.
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Which rival would you like to face now between PSG and Newcastle?
We know we will play some big teams; Everyone is at this stage of the competition. We will see who our opponent is, but we will be ready for the challenge. Like PSG, Newcastle are a solid team, although they play with a different style. Before that, we must focus on the league.