Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouameni was in the hot seat for the press conference ahead of the game against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, and defended his coach Xabi Alonso as he said,
“against Celta, the coach had a good plan, but we players are the ones on the field. If we lose 0-2, it’s because there was a problem on our part, such as a lack of intensity. It’s not the coach’s fault. We’re going to improve.”
Tchouameni on a big European fixture
“It’s a pleasure to play in the Champions League and at home. Even more so against City, a great rival. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Tchouameni on whether there is an attitude problem
“I don’t know about attitude, but if we’re not winning, it’s because we need to do things better. Play better in defence and attack. We have to do things better. We hope we can do that. What’s happening now is not acceptable.”
Tchouameni on his relationship with Xabi Alonso
“We’re all in this together. If we want to win, we all have to fight. With the coach, with the team. We’re on the pitch and we have to do things better. Tomorrow we have a good opportunity to change the dynamic.”
Tchouameni on the disappearance of the high press
“We have to improve in that area. We want to press from the start. Sometimes we do it well, sometimes very badly. We have to improve to win back more balls.”
Tchouameni on facing Haaland
“We’ll talk about the game plan with the coach today. We have a lot of injuries in defense, but there are many who can perform at a high level. We have to defend together and show commitment. We’re playing against a great team. Haaland is incredible, but if we play at our level, we can win that game.”
Tchouameni on criticism about a lack of intensity
“Against Celta, of course, and in others too. If we don’t play with maximum intensity, it will be very difficult to win games. We have to understand that to win those games, we have to give our all. We didn’t do that against Celta, and we have to do it tomorrow.”
Tchouameni on what he expects from Manchester City
“City are a great team, especially with the ball. We’ll have to be very compact in defence and also when we have the ball, to create opportunities for our attackers. It will be a very entertaining game.”
