Solskjaer: We've got our form back
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrated his second away win over Paris Saint-Germain as Manchester United manager on Tuesday night, and declared his team are now back in the groove after two great results since the international break.
Here's what Ole had to say in his post-match interviews about this latest triumph in Paris and what it means for his players and their confidence...
HOW IT COMPARES TO LAST TIME IN PARIS
"It’s a different feeling of course, it’s the start of the group stages but we’ve won against a fantastic team. The last time was a knock-out and the euphoria was different, and now there are no fans, it’s sterile, there’s no-one here to celebrate with. But still the players were excellent, I have to say. They have really focused and concentrated on the job and took on board what we wanted and I think we deserved to win."
Solskjaer: My boys can really play
"The team spirit has been fantastic since they've come back from the international break," explains Ole...
BRILLIANT SINCE THE BREAK
"These boys can play. They enjoyed it. Attitude, work rate... you know the team spirit has been fantastic since they've come back from the international break so it's been brilliant. I'm just happy for them. I know we have quite a few possibilities in the way we're playing of course and you have to look at the opposition and how you want to play. I felt we played it right as we wanted it and all credit to them."
AXEL T AND ALEX T
"To see Axel [Tuanzebe] play as he has done - I think his last game was maybe Colchester - it's an unbelievable performance by him. He's only trained for a couple of weeks and he's absolutely spot on. Axel's a tremendous defender, a great leader. He's come through the Academy and we've known for years that he's going to be a top player for us and he's got the character and the attitude that a Man United player should have. And you can see Alex [Telles], on his debut, what he's going to give us. His delivery was great."
"In midfield, Scott and Fred... it's difficult for me to pick out [players]. It's the team, because every single one played their part in this."
MATCHING UP TO MBAPPE
"You know when you go away from home against a team like this, against players like Neymar and Mbappe, top, top players in the world, that you will have to defend well and David [De Gea] will have to make a few saves. Sometimes you’ll get in a foot race with Mbappe and you have to run with him and we know Axel’s qualities, he’s a top defender. It’s his first game in 10 months or something which is testament to the quality he has."
"It could only get better after two misses in a row! [Laughs] Of course he’s not going to stop taking them, he wants to keep taking them but you need focus, concentration and character and Bruno showed that again [by scoring the retaken penalty]."
GREAT START TO GROUP H
"We know that to get through you probably need 10 points and now we’ve got three, so next week’s game against Leipzig will be very, very important for us. We looked at this game as a possibility, it's early on and we've all seen that the teams who played in Europe at the end of last season, it's taken a bit of time to get going. But we've certainly got our form back."
"I thought we created so many chances. I think we could have scored a few more. It was almost his most difficult one, the one Marcus scored from. It was a great turn and shot down in the corner. And he's been at that end of the pitch before as you said."
BEATING PSG BOOSTS CONFIDENCE
"Yes of course. It's all about what's in between the ears, football is. Yes, you've got talent, physicality and the technical bit but if your head is screwed on right and you're focused and concentrating on your job, then you get performances like this."
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