Tuchel praises players after 3-0 thrashing of Real Madrid

SHOWS:

PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN COACH THOMAS TUCHEL SAYING:

"Everyone is thinking, 'Oh, he's missing three players, how can he win?' Maybe this helped, because everyone talks about the favourites - no Neymar, no Kylian (Mbappe), no Edi (Cavani). And maybe this helped, to not feel too much pressure."

2. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

3. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN COACH THOMAS TUCHEL SAYING (IN RESPONSE TO QUESTION ABOUT IDRISSA GUEYE):

"We fought a lot to buy this player (Idrissa Gueye). He's a machine. He doesn't stop. He doesn't stop running. He's gaining back the ball a lot of times, a lot. He won a lot of balls. Against a team like Real Madrid, it's really important. And I must say that today it was a good mix between the three - Marquinhos, Marco (Verratti) and him (Gueye). It was very very strong, with a lot of intensity."

4. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN COACH THOMAS TUCHEL SAYING (IN JOKING WAY):

"If someone asks me if we will win the Champions League, that's it. I leave the room."

STORY: After three consecutive last-16 eliminations in the Champions League, Paris St Germain were taking their impressive 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday (September 18) with a large pinch of salt.

Tuchel said the absence of their stars may have helped relieve the team of expectation and the pressure that comes with it.

PSG recruited during the close season, notably bringing in goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Real Madrid and striker Mauro Icardi on loan from Inter Milan.

But it was midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who joined from Everton, who caught the eye on Wednesday, setting up Di Maria for the second goal and working tirelessly.

PSG lead the standings on three points, ahead of Club Brugge and Galatasaray, who played out a goalless draw earlier on Wednesday.