The coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Mauricio Pochettino, assured that the robberies in the homes of the player Ángel di María and Marquinhos's father last Sunday while they faced Nantes in the Parc des Princes affected the entire group to the point of that they could not trace the result.
“We are a united team in which the impact has been for the whole group, everyone has felt it as their own, it is the way the team has felt it,” said the Argentine coach at a press conference prior to the duel of the French Cup that tomorrow will mediate to Lille.
“If that had not happened, in the second half we would have won and now we would be in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, we would be leaders of the league and we would face the French Cup,” he added.
The team was informed of the theft during the match, which led to Di María being substituted and, according to the coach, affected the morale of the entire team.
“That shows us how he can change everything in such a short time for extra-sporting things. Today the group is better and we hope that tomorrow Ángel and Marquinhos can be with us ”, he assured.
The event also affected the relatives of the other players, said the coach, who noted that now they are all in good condition.
Judicial sources told Efe that during the robbery, Marquinhos' father suffered “a punch in the belly” and that the thieves took money and luxury handbags.
In Di María's case, the robbery occurred without violence, according to sources, although his family was at home.
Pochettino indicated that they face the rest of the season in good spirits, trying to turn the page of what happened last Sunday, while emphasizing that the team is alive in all three competitions.
He also assured that the clash against Barça took its toll
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“I am very positive, we depend on us in the league, in the Cup and when nobody believed in this team before the tie against Barcelona we were able to overcome it,” he said.
The Argentine coach also confirmed that Neymar's return to the team is delayed to be sure that he is fully recovered.
“The goal is for him to be with the group as soon as possible, to improve every day and to see when he can be available. It was obvious that for Ney it was an objective to be against Barcelona, because he was very excited, but the deadlines were not given. We'll see if he can be against Lyon ”next Saturday, he said.