Reactions from Vanderson, Teze and Köhn after qualifying for the playoffs

The Brazilian and Dutch full-backs, as well as the Swiss goalkeeper, were understandably pleased in the mixed zone after the draw against Juventus and qualification for the playoffs.

They knew a draw would be enough to qualify via the playoffs, and they achieved it brilliantly. Dominating for the most part and solid defensively, the AS Monaco players kept a clean sheet to secure a 0-0 draw against Juventus. A few moments after the match, Vanderson, Jordan Teze and Philipp Köhn appeared in the mixed zone with a sense of a job well done. Excerpts.

Good evening, Vandi. First of all, congratulations on your man of the match trophy!

It wasn’t my decision. As I said, the whole team deserved this trophy because we did a good job tonight. It’s a good night, and we’ve achieved our goal of reaching the Champions League playoffs. We need to maintain this mentality in the next match against Rennes, which is also very important.

What is the prevailing feeling tonight?

It’s a relief to achieve one of our season’s objectives. We know we’ll be going through tougher times, so we need to take advantage of evenings like these to rebuild our confidence and get back to winning ways in Ligue 1.

I don't have a preference. I simply hope we go as far as possible; we'll just have to work together as a team. It's the Champions League, there are no easy matches. As I've already said, we'll have to maintain this mentality against any opponent.

VandersonOn the potential playoff opponent

The coach said that you and Caio were better protected defensively in a three-man system. Is that also your feeling?

Playing with three defenders gives wing-backs more freedom, as is the case for any team. There is indeed more defensive protection, as demonstrated tonight with the clean sheet.

Would you like to play against PSG or Newcastle in the next round?

I don’t have a preference. I simply hope we go as far as possible; we’ll have to work on everything with the whole team. It’s the Champions League, there are no easy matches. As I’ve already said, we’ll have to maintain this mentality against any opponent.

We achieved our objective, so we're really happy even if we didn't celebrate much in the changing room. We've found a good structure, which is important. Now we have to build on that. It's a real morale booster to have secured two consecutive draws after the defeat against Madrid and to have qualified for the playoffs.

Jordan TezeRegarding qualification

Jordan Teze’s reaction

Good evening, Jordan. We imagine there is a feeling of satisfaction tonight following qualification for the playoffs.

Yes, of course, because it’s an objective achieved, so we’re really happy even if we didn’t celebrate much in the locker room. We’ve found a good structure, which is important. Now we have to build on that. It’s a real morale booster to have secured two consecutive draws after the defeat against Madrid and to have qualified for the playoffs. We’ll now have to look at what we need to improve to win matches.

Would you rather play against PSG or Newcastle in the next round?

I don’t have a particular preference, even though we often play against PSG in the league. However, the Champions League is a different kind of match, especially in terms of atmosphere. In any case, they will be two difficult games.

We knew a draw was enough to advance, so our main focus was on keeping a clean sheet. That was one of our objectives, and we were smart enough to hold onto that result, which secured qualification. We defended very well and were unlucky with Folarin Balogun's disallowed goal and Maghnes Akliouche's chance.

Philipp KöhnRegarding qualifying for the playoffs

Can you tell us about the 3-man defence?

It was good, we were really solid. We really had to defend well because we knew we’d qualify if we didn’t concede a goal. So, we defended well, that’s the most important thing. (His role?) At the beginning, the coach just asked me to do my job and defend well. Then, if I felt comfortable, I could push up to challenge my opponent. I have more freedom in that position because I can also play on the wing or through the middle. The most important thing is that I was solid. The coach gave me a lot of confidence.

Philipp Köhn’s reaction

Good evening, Philipp. What is your first impression after qualifying for the playoffs?

We knew a draw was enough to advance, so our main focus was on keeping a clean sheet. That was one of our objectives, and we were smart enough to hold onto that result, which meant qualification.

We defended very well and were unlucky with Folarin Balogun disallowed goal and Maghnes Akliouche’s chance. In our last two matches, we did a good job defensively and communicated well on the pitch. We saw that everyone was helping their teammates, which is the most important thing. So, I’m very happy to have kept a clean sheet and to have qualified for the playoffs.

A word about Denis Zakaria’s superb performance in defence.

He had a very good game, as did the entire defence. But I’m not surprised he put in a performance like that. With the injuries, you had to be clever to find solutions, and the coach made a good decision.

That makes two clean sheets in a row. We can imagine the satisfaction.

We have to take it one game at a time. We’ve kept two clean sheets, but we haven’t managed to score in both games. The first objective was to keep a clean sheet; now we need to make the difference and win 1-0. We have the foundations; we need to build on them in the league every match.

Which opponent would you like to face now between PSG and Newcastle?

We know we’ll be playing against some big teams; they all are at this stage of the competition. We’ll see who our opponent is, but we’ll be ready for the challenge. Like PSG, Newcastle is a solid team, even if they play a different style. Before that, we need to focus on the league.