PSG/Tottenham: Vitinha on challenges, drive and Ballon d’Or talk

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·14 août 2025

PSG/Tottenham: Vitinha on challenges, drive and Ballon d’Or talk

Paris Saint-Germain triumphed (2-2, then 4-3 on penalties) against Tottenham (PSG/Tottenham video summary) this Wednesday at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine as part of the 2025 European Super Cup. After the match, Parisian midfielder Vitinha (25 years old) spoke to Sport TV. He discussed the difficult start to the match due to lack of preparation, the comeback, and the 2025 Ballon d'Or.

Vitinha "We really believed"

"We started pre-season a week ago, without a single match. We knew this would cause us problems, and so it did. We failed to impose our game, we lacked rhythm, availability, but that's normal. And Tottenham ended up scoring two goals from two set pieces. It's tough. But we believed until the end. We really believed, not in the literal sense of the word, but we really believed that we could go all the way, turn the situation around, because we've done it several times before. We knew that a single goal would completely put us back in the match and make them tremble, because that's how it is. And luckily, we managed to score. The 2-1 came a bit late, but it was still possible to come back to 2-2 and go to penalties.

Vitinha "There are nine PSG players nominated, and I think we even deserved more."

The Ballon d'Or? I had the opportunity to say, when the list was published, that I was very happy with this individual recognition, but only because it came after collective success. There are nine PSG players nominated, and I think we even deserved more. But we only achieved this thanks to collective success."

The Parisians struggled for part of the match, as expected. Their 2024-2025 season led to this late start and they had to adapt. Tottenham was more on their toes with a longer preparation. But Vitinha and his teammates still showed great resources to turn the situation around.

Vidéos OneFootball

There is always this very strong collective game, even if it wasn't at its best yesterday, as well as a certain determination from the whole group. There's no question of giving up. All this without panicking, even if sometimes frustration can be seen. This is also a sign of the desire always present in this group despite the successes of the past season.

Which were achieved, of course, in part thanks to the individual qualities of the Parisians. But also, and above all, because there are all these collective ingredients. So we appreciate seeing Vitinha highlight this, with the absence of some players, when discussing a Ballon d'Or that tends to make discussions too individualistic.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.