Praise for Mbappé
“A player with that ambition and desire whenever he’s on the pitch is very good for the team and his teammates. Today he equalled a historic record set by Cristiano Ronaldo. I congratulate him on that and encourage him to start 2026 strongly.”
The whistles for Vini Jr.
“The fans are sovereign and free to express their opinion. It was a difficult match because of how we were doing. There are things we can improve, but I appreciate the team’s situation with the injuries we have. Now we’re going to use the time to rest and start the year stronger. I said goodbye to everyone, we said goodbye and we didn’t talk about the issue.”
How does your team play?
“You are the journalists and the ones who write the headlines, but as I said to your colleague, we know where we are and we have the standards and self-criticism to be able to play better. We know that this is not our level and we want to improve it. I’m not here to evaluate your headlines.”
Have you identified the problem?
“We need to improve in several areas: when we don’t have the ball and when we do have it, we need to give the game a different intention and rhythm, and combine control with more verticality. Today we had a lot of players out, the lads made a big effort and many of them reached their limit. I’m not focusing on today’s performance because I know that in the future, when we regain our energy and players, we’ll be able to spread the load more and improve.”
“There are a lot of factors coming together. Today we had nine players out, I think, between injuries and suspensions. It’s happening to us and to other clubs in Europe. You have to live with it and you have to be critical, but you have to put it in context with where we are right now.”
Are you up for it?
“My mood doesn’t change from one day to the next. I understand and analyse the game. I’m also critical in a constructive way, but I put it in context with where we’ve come from and what’s coming in January.”
Requests for 2026
“I’d like to be able to start getting people back and have more players available so we don’t have to play on the limit. I’m ready for whatever comes. I’m not one to ask for much.”
Injuries
“There are many factors. It’s not just one. With the workload, there’s a greater risk of injury. It happened to us recently with Militão, and that really hurts you. Both Trent and Carva are injured, and Fede couldn’t play today. You have to be creative, and I appreciate the players’ effort.”
