Presnel Kimpembe says PSG must be totally ready as they face Real Madrid in Champions league round of 16
Facing France team-mate Karim Benzema is a daunting prospect, but Paris centre-back Presnel Kimpembe says: “That’s why we do this job: to be able to play in matches like this one.”
There will be no gentle reintroduction to UEFA Champions League life as Paris Saint-Germain return to the competition with a round of 16 home game against 13-time European champions Real Madrid, but that suits Presnel Kimpembe just fine.
The 26-year-old centre-back has grown accustomed to playing with the best since coming through the youth ranks at Paris. He sees some of the biggest names in world football every day at the training ground, but as he tells UEFA.com, an intimate knowledge of Karim Benzema from the France national team will not necessarily help him in Tuesday’s game.
We never really get out of [shape]. Of course, we have a little break with the holiday period but it’s very short. We stay professional and continue to work. Even if there’s a lot of time between matches and lots of time to get ourselves back into ‘Champions League mode’, there’s time, but we work every day for that in training and we try to work on this in matches to prepare for Real Madrid.
READ ALSO UCL: Mbappe’s only focus will be on knocking out Real Madrid- Ancelotti
Obviously, it’s a big match coming up. We’re all really looking forward to it, we’re very excited to be able to play in matches like this. That’s why we do this job: to be able to play in matches like this one. We’ll have to be ready to play a big game, especially if we want to beat a team like Real Madrid
