It was long believed that Paris SG would still drop points against an opponent clearly within their reach this Sunday afternoon at the Parc des Princes. AS Saint-Étienne had indeed found the resources to open the scoring, then to equalize. But Mauro Icardi finally offered a snatch success to his family with a header in the dying moments of added time (3-2, 33rd day in Ligue 1).
A champion’s victory? Obviously, the question was put to Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the meeting at a press conference. The Argentine appreciated his team’s faith and stressed the importance of this victory in the title race. In view of the scenario of the game, this result seems to be worth much more than three points for the Parisian technician. “In recent months, we have faced difficult external circumstances, we have not always obtained the expected results, but we have to deal with it, this is the situation at the moment”, he explained before continuing.
A decisive boost?
“Today, it is true that these three points give us enormous energy, increased self-confidence and a welcome flow of positive energy before facing the final sprint of the season which promises to be very hard”, he detailed. In the fight for the title in Ligue 1 (one point behind Lille in the standings), qualified in the quarter-final of the Coupe de France (upcoming match against Angers on Wednesday) and in the semi-final of the Champions League (against Manchester City ), PSG, winner of the Champions Trophy in January against Olympique de Marseille (2-1), is indeed launched in a frantic race for a harvest of unprecedented titles.
And Pochettino intends to rely on one of the other strengths of his group to continue to believe in the feat. “This team has a big mind, that’s another of its qualities, beyond physicality, technique, tactics or talent”, he concluded. Can PSG write history in this home stretch? New answers from Wednesday.