PSG teammates were ‘irritated’ with Sochaux comments prematch – Thiago

Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva has hit back at Sochaux captain Florian Tardieu after the Frenchman accused the Ligue 1 leaders of disrespect ahead of their Coupe de France round of 16 clash at Stade Auguste Bonal on Tuesday.

An Angel Di Maria hat trick and an Edinson Cavani effort saw Unai Emery's men win 4-1 and Silva took the opportunity when speaking with France 2 postmatch to address his opposite number's prematch comments.

'What the Sochaux captain said irritated us,' admitted the Brazil international referring to Tardieu's prematch comments that Les Parisiens took his side for granted. 'We respect each and every team we face!

'We wanted to play technical football, despite the state of the pitch. We managed to do that and make the difference — we respect everybody we come up against.'

Silva also revealed that although it is hard with the match so close now, that he and his teammates are focused more on Toulouse away in Ligue 1 on Saturday than the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 clash away at Real Madrid next week.

'It is hard not to think about a game like that but this sort of match is good preparation,' said the skipper. 'Only after a difficult trip to Toulouse on Saturday will we be able to focus on Real — we are ready, though.'

Emery reiterated the idea of respect towards Ligue 2 side Sochaux and was happy to have won inside of 90 minutes and to have secured a quarterfinal berth without any injuries.

'Our aim was to qualify, pick up no injuries and gain confidence,' the Spaniard said. 'We respect the Coupe de France and Sochaux, who has pedigree in this competition and were recently in Ligue 1.

'We won and mastered the game — even if Sochaux did grab a goal. I knew that they were an attack-minded team and I respected them. In the second half, we limited them to fewer opportunities.'

Cavani was happy with another win and praised teammate Layvin Kurzawa for his assist to make it 2-1 before half time.

'It was important for us to win here,' said the Uruguay international. 'This gives us even more confidence. The Coupe de France is a beautiful competition. We deserved to win here because we performed well.

'It was a superb pass from Layvin, who spotted my run and put the ball right into my path.'

Thiago Motta returned from injury late on as a substitute and praised the number of options available to Emery.

'From the moment that we take to the pitch, we are all ready to play!' said the veteran Italian. 'We are all good players and intelligent too.

'The coach has plenty of options and can make many changes during the match — this is excellent for the team!'

Source: www.espnfc.com