PSG earn Ancelotti´s approval

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti praised his team’s ‘intelligent’ performance in a 4-0 Ligue 1 win over Troyes on Saturday.

PSG had not tasted victory in three league matches going into the contest at the Parc de Princes, where goals from Maxwell, Blaise Matuidi and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic double sealed a return to winning ways.

The match came just three days after PSG’s 2-0 triumph away to Dynamo Kiev, and Ancelotti was impressed his players’ intelligent display.

“We played intelligently,” he said.

“You do not want to use too much energy. We travelled to Ukraine on Wednesday so it was hard to recover.

“Our attacking strategy was very well executed. In the second half we found space and took advantage of it.

“(Replacing) Pastore was a tactical choice. I thought Nene could make more use of the spaces. Ibra is a very important player.

“He is one of the best strikers in the world. Regarding Matuidi, he managed to hit a high level of performance, which is what we’ve come to expect from him.”

Despite the emphatic nature of the win, Ancelotti said it was too soon to celebrate an end to the team’s worrying form slump.

“I think we should wait,” he said.

“You must understand that when you try to build a strong team, sometimes you can lose.

“We are not yet strong enough to be a team that plays with continuity. But this week, the team reacted very well.

“They scored six goals (across two matches), without conceding, and we qualified for the Champions League knockout stages. Over six days, that’s a lot.”