Together, Turkish and Parisian players have made the decision not to return to the lawn Tuesday evening.

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FRANCK FIFE / AFP

  • After the interruption of the match on Tuesday evening, PSG finally won (5-1) against Basaksehir at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

  • At the end of the meeting, the actors returned to the discussions behind the scenes which led to not returning to the lawn on Tuesday.

At the Parc des Princes,

Unsurprisingly, the Parisian beating against Basaksehir Wednesday evening did not monopolize the questions of journalists at the post-match press conference.

On the one hand because there was no photo on the pitch between the two teams, on the other hand because the events of the day before were still in everyone's mind.

One after the other, Thomas Tuchel and Okan Buruk took the time to review what had happened the day before, when the two teams decided to return to the locker room to talk to each other away from the microphones and cameras.

If he explained that on a personal level he had not heard everything that was said at the edge of the field with the fourth referee, Tuchel sided with the opinion of his players without discussing.

“They made a very strong decision yesterday [Tuesday], they showed solidarity with the opponent, it's a courageous decision.

In the locker room, it was really clear from the start that they wanted to have this reaction, it was necessary for them to show solidarity with the opponents.

"

Tuchel opts for self-management

For Kylian Mbappé, very involved from the start of the exchanges between the Turks and the Romanian referees on Tuesday evening, the question of whether or not to resume the meeting did not arise for long.

“Of course I'm proud of what has been done,” he confided at RMC's microphone on Wednesday.

A lot has been said, but in reality there is nothing better than deeds.

We are tired, we never want to go through this again.

We are all human beings and that was intolerable.

People are fed up and something had to be done.

Yesterday [Tuesday], we were not disappointed not to play.

We made this decision, we were proud.

Because, by dint of letting this kind of thing go, we let believe that it is normal.

But no.

Afterwards, we had to get back to football and we did it very well.

"

In exceptional circumstances, exceptional preparation: after the events of the day before, the Parisian coach and his staff have agreed not to intervene too much with the group.

The purely sporting preparation for this match had already been carried out the previous days, the idea Tuesday night and Wednesday was therefore to let the players manage it their way.

It must be said that Tuchel is starting to get used to these Champions League matches played over two days because of events outside the field, even if the trauma experienced by his players in Dortmund was quite different in 2017 after the attack. with explosives before the quarter-final first leg against Monaco.

🗨️ "Yesterday they made a strong decision, they showed solidarity with the opponent"



Thomas Tuchel welcomes the reaction and the exit from the field of his players during #PSGIBKF 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/dBhCQsrbHF

- Late Football Club (@LateFootClub) December 9, 2020

"We showed the whole world that we were all united"

“We had lunch together today [Wednesday], we didn't talk about sport because we had already prepared for this match beforehand.

There, it was necessary not to force the concentration of my players, I realized that I had to let them exchange between them.

It is important that there is not only football in their concerns.

So we let them do it quietly.

We knew that they would respond present and that they would make a good match despite the context.

I really liked the state of mind they displayed.

"

For Okan Buruk, the coach of Basaksehir who took over from Tuchel in the auditorium of the Parc des Princes, the slap received on the pitch was already history.

"The important thing," he said, "was to show that we were all behind Achille Webo, us, the staff, our players, but also those of PSG, Neymar, Mbappé, etc.

Everyone has been united.

In the locker room, the decision came from the players.

Some did not want to return to the lawn anymore, we understood that perfectly and the main thing was not to be divided on this issue.

UEFA also helped us by accepting the postponement of the match, we showed the whole world that we were all united against racism.

"

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  • Racism

  • Sport

  • PSG

  • Champions League

  • Thomas tuchel