Tipped to start as a left axial in a three-man defense, Wednesday evening at Benfica (9 p.m., Canal + and RMC Sport 1), Danilo Pereira appeared at a press conference this Tuesday at the end of the day at the Estadio da Luz . The Portuguese gives his feelings before the meeting and talks about his role as a Swiss army knife within the Parisian team.
What atmosphere can we expect on Wednesday evening?
DANILO PEREIRA. During my 5 years in Porto, it was always difficult to play here. It is a stadium of 65,000 spectators in which there is a warm atmosphere, it is necessarily favorable to the host team. I think it will be hot again tomorrow. It will be up to us to make a big game to pocket the 3 points.
Is it more difficult to be a starter in this PSG team compared to last season when you ended up settling in the middle?
It’s always difficult to start in a team like PSG. Today the coach trusts me as a defender, I sometimes switch to the middle. I feel good. I enjoy playing and that’s the most important thing.
The first technician to put you behind was Thomas Tuchel and it drew quite a bit of criticism at the time…
When I arrived here in Paris, it was a bit difficult because at the beginning I had played midfield matches. Then I played a lot of central defense. But the question was above all Marquinhos in the middle. That was the question. Not that I play in central defense.
Where do you feel best: in the center of the three-man defence, on the right or on the left?
In fact, I’ve played in all 3 positions but I don’t think I have a preference. I’m having a lot of fun playing, like I said that’s what I want. There is no preference to be had.
In general, do you find that the French tend to look down on Portuguese football when we see the recent results?
I think the Portuguese League is a bit underrated because of a lot of things that I won’t mention here… There are teams with a lot of quality. We see Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Braga too. It is clear that all these teams are doing good matches in the Champions League or the Europa League.