“It’s a fact of the game“, said Blanc of Rabiot’s expulsion.
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Ten-man Paris Saint-Germain beat Lille 1-0 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy to get their defence of their Ligue 1 title off to a winning start.
PSG, with their recruit from Manchester United, Angel Di Maria, watching from the stands, dominated the early exchanges and Edinson Cavani, operating as a lone striker, was guilty of missing a clear chance in the 26th minute.
“I am a lucky coach because I already have very good players and now we have Di Maria. I hope he will bring quality that raises the level of the team; he is needed in European matches”.
Rabiot was dismissed 28 minutes into the capital club’s opener at Lille for two swift yellow cards, but Lucas Moura’s goal earned the visitors a 1-0 win.
“The first card seems harsh because, although it’s strong, he took the ball”.
“A youthful error, he was at fault for the second one. It was hard for the team after that”.
For PSG, it was their first victory at the campaign’s outset since their Qatari owners took control in 2011. “At 10 against 11 you do not panic, stay compact, defend well”.
Thiago Silva helped to keep Trapp’s workload light, putting in a typically dominant display that included a fantastic flying block to deny new Lille signing Sehrou Guirassy what could have been a dream debut goal. We will organise double training sessions for the whole week as we play again next Sunday.
The rest of the league must live with the financial reality of modern football, which means even Marseille can not compete with sides from the bottom end of the Premier League who are dripping in the riches of England’s television deal. For some time now, as a group, we’ve been getting better and better.
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However, the Frenchman’s petulance meant that Pastore was withdrawn at half-time when he could have done with some more action to continue his return to optimum fitness – despite looking remarkably sharp for someone who did not have a preseason.
