Football
Jonathan Johnson, PSG correspondent 7y

PSG's Champions League defeat of Basel 'good for the confidence' - Rabiot

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot says the French giants have to put a few things right after a 3-0 home win over Basel in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

The France Under-21 international was outstanding for the hosts but his teammates were less impressive, despite the substantial winning margin after goals from Angel Di Maria, Lucas Moura and Edinson Cavani.

Rabiot, 21, admitted PSG struggled early on but insisted Unai Emery's men "controlled things" overall.

"We won and it was a big winning margin in the end, which is good for the confidence," Rabiot told journalists after the match. "Personally, I was happy to play and I try to express myself to my maximum. Each of us has a very specific role in the team, but we're all going in the same direction to improve things."

Emery conceded the first half was tricky for the Ligue 1 champions but pointed to an improved second half performance before targeting Sunday's clash with fierce rivals Marseille.

"We had a lot of respect for Basel and they showed they can be dangerous," Emery said. "One-nil at half-time was a good result. After the break, it was much better. We were more complete as a team, particularly in terms of positioning.

"We had a much better second half, we created a lot of chances and scored. We are going to try and improve still more in the weeks to come. We have another big match on Sunday at home to Marseille. We are going to focus on Le Classique."

Chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi echoed Emery's sentiments on the first-half performance but stressed the importance of the three points as PSG chase top spot in Group A.

"The most important thing is the three points," Al-Khelaifi stated. "We now have seven points, which is ideal. Our objective is to finish top of the group. We still have three matches, two of which are away from home. We play each game to win it and we are going to try and do that."

Lucas scored the capital club's second goal and the Brazilian was happy to have been able to capitalise on a Basel defensive error immediately but the South American recognised the Swiss were well-organised and difficult to break down.

"We had some problems at the start of the game against a good Basel team," Lucas admitted. "After that, we got ourselves going. We managed to score and that lifted the weight from our shoulders. The Champions League is a very special competition; all the games are difficult.

"Basel were compact in the first half but after the break we spread the play and found more space. My goal came from a mistake from them playing the ball out -- you have to take your chances. I was able to quickly take advantage and it worked well."

PSG and Arsenal both have seven points at the top of Group A, but the Gunners lead Les Parisiens by virtue of their greater goal difference after a 6-0 thrashing of Ludogorets in London.

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