PSG’s Marquinhos on returning to Champions League final: “Our ambition is the same, maybe even bigger.” | OneFootball

On the eve of the Champions League final, Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos appeared alongside teammate Ousmane Dembélé for pre-match media duties at the Puskás Aréna.

For the captain, PSG’s drive to retain their European crown remains intact: “Once you’ve won the Champions League, once you’ve tasted that title, you want to experience that kind of moment again. I still remember the emotion in the dressing room after the final. We have to be hungry, we have to have to be motivated.”

“We’ve seen fans making the trip by car. In fact, even my father is doing so with some friends. People are coming from far away to motivate us, so our ambition this year is the same, perhaps even bigger.”

The Brazilian centre-back insisted that despite now being European champions, the team would be approaching the final with the same anticipation as in Munich last year: “It’s the same feeling, the same motivation. Even if we’ve already experienced it, we’re human beings. These are important matches, they’re difficult moments, there’s a lot going on around them.”

“Last season’s approach was to try and manage everything that’s going on around the match, everything concerning the pressure. We’re not going to change anything, we’re going to keep working as we’ve been doing until now and keep the motivation that we had last year.”

The veteran was also asked about the PSG defence’s plans to counter Arsenal’s set-piece efficiency: “We’ve played them a few times over the last few years, and we know what their strengths are. We know how difficult it is to face this Arsenal team. We can’t know what will happen during the match, and what could be the deciding moment. We need to be ready for anything.”

“Whatever the opponent this season, whether it was against Liverpool, Chelsea, or Bayern Munich, there were times where they made it difficult for us. We managed to step up and adapt to what was needed. In a final, we’ll need to be decisive when it comes to the details.”

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from the Puskás Aréna, Budapest