It is important to finish first in the Champions League groups, says Ancelotti

Dec 3, 2012 9:15:00 PM

Les Parisiens' boss is proud of his club's achievements so far and has stressed the significance of leaving the group stage of the European competition at the top

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti insists that it is vital for his team to come out as the winner of Group A after their match against Porto on Tuesday.

PSG currently sit second in their group, only one point behind the Portistas, presenting them with a great chance to switch spots for a better starting situation going into the knockout round of the competition.

"It is important to finish first because you can get a better draw in the [next] round," the Italian trainer explained to reporters.

"And it is also important to play a good game and win to prove that the team has quality. We focus on the meeting to finish in first place, and change our attitude on the field.

"We have the opportunity to play against a big club and we want to know how we can forget the defeat against Nice and regain confidence in our quality. This is why this [is an] important game, not for anything else."

Ancelotti also commented on the criticism focused on his side following some poor performances in Ligue 1.

"Critics are sometimes deserved," he said. "Everyone at the club is sorry because of our poor start to the season. When you build a new club, you may have some problems, but the championship is not over. And we will be very competitive."

And Ancelotti was quick to praise the club's success in the Champions League so far, adding: "Our first goal of the season was to move to the last 16 of CL and it's done and it is very important.

"We are the team that scored the most goals in the tournament, and also it is we who took the least.

"Our opponents were not very competitive, but teams like Dynamo Kiev had experience of this competition. The work we have done in this competition was good," he added.

Paris Saint-Germain host Porto on December 4, with kick off at 20.45CET.