Ninkovic backs Sydney FC to take it to PSG
Milos Ninkovic boasts a formidable record against PSG, and the Sydney FC star has no plans to park the bus against the French giant on Tuesday night (AEST).
Milos Ninkovic knows better than most what it’s like to play in an upset victory over PSG on the biggest stage.
The Sydney FC midfielder was playing for Evian Thonon-Gaillard in 2013 when the club stunned PSG on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, denying the Parisian giant a chance to win the domestic double.
Lining up for PSG the night Evian sent shockwaves through French football, were Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi.
Six years later, as Ninkovic prepares to run out for A-League champion Sydney FC in a pre-season friendly against a similarly stacked PSG outfit, the Serbian play-maker said the key to to playing well against ‘one of the best teams in the world’ is not to become over-awed by the occasion.
“I have only one piece of advice,” Ninkovic said. “Yeah, they are probably top players but it’s not a big, big difference. You just have to play football, to believe in yourself and that’s the most important thing.
“If you’re relaxed, you can show whatever you want, but if you’re not relaxed then it’s hard to show your quality.”
Over the course of his own decorated club football career, Ninkovic has played PSG four times, enjoying two wins a draw and a loss. While he was reluctant to forecast how Sydney’s game would play out, he said the experience of playing against the best in the game will be an invaluable one.
“I’m really excited. It’s always a pleasure to play against big teams, big players and I think PSG’s one of the top three clubs in the world if you look at the names,” he said.
“If you look at the PSG squad they have probably some of the best players in the world, Neymar, Mbappe, Thiago Silva.
“We all play the Asian Champions League, the A-League, and it’s going to be interesting to see what it’s like to play against some top players.”
“That is going to be interesting for everyone, for the young players as well and even for myself. I’m 34 years-old but still excited to play against, it’s always a pleasure to play against the best players in the world.
Asked whether Sydney would adopt a certain tactical approach, Ninkovic hinted that Sydney would take the game to its European opponent.
“For me PSG was one of the favourites last year to win the champions League,” he said. “They were in the same group as Red Star – I watched that game and Red Star parked the bus against them.
“Actually Red Star parked the bus against Liverpool as well and they won that game, but against PSG they parked the bus and they lost 4-1.”
“It’s hard to park the bus against PSG or Barcelona. They have such good players they can score the goals easily.
“I don’t know what to say to you whether it’s better to park the bus or play open football but because it’s a friendly game I think push it.
“We should play open football just to see where we are at the moment.”
That sentiment was echoed by Sydney FC defender Rhyan Grant, who is relishing the opportunity to take on some of the best players in the game.
“If we were to bop it around a little bit and have some good passages that would definitely ruffle a few feathers I suppose and get under their skin, which would be great for us,” Grant said. “We can’t go into it being scared and not wanting to play.
“We’re professional footballers too so we want to go out there and put our best foot forward and try and impress as much as we can and, It might sound silly, but try and win the game.
“You never know and we’ll give it a red hot crack and see what happens from there but we’re not going to be scared, we’re going to try and play the Sydney FC way.”
So just how do you prepare to defend the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria?
“I mean, there’s not much you can really look at when you’re looking at the likes of Mbappe and Neymar, if he plays, it’s sort of a bit off the cuff, so you can watch as much as you want but still they’re going to be quite frightening.
“We’ll have a look at a few different things and see what we can do to try an counteract it, but I think more importantly it’s just a great thing for Australian football and a great thing for Sydney FC.
“Personally it will be great to play against some of the best in the world.”
