Cavani: I dream of scoring a scissor kick in the Champions League final Champions League - Real Madrid vs PSG The Uruguayan is interviewed by MARCA

Paris Saint-Germain have their best squad ever this season and are keen to make a serious run to the Champions League final, where Edinson Cavani dreams of scoring a scissor kick.

Way before that, though, the Ligue 1 leaders will have to overcome Real Madrid in the last 16, with the first leg of that tie taking place on Wednesday.

Just days before that blockbuster match, Cavani welcomed MARCA to PSG's training centre to talk all things football.

What kind of situation are PSG in as they prepare to face Real Madrid?

"We are going through a great moment. Sincerely, everything is working well in all of the competitions. There have been a couple of stumbles, but I see that as being logical. Football is like this. You can let a match escape you by not concentrating and with a lower level you lose it. But that also helps to wake you up and to make you realise what you have ahead. We are working to improve day by day."

You have been at PSG for five seasons. Is this the best moment for the team since you've been here?

"We have signed important players and that helps a lot. That's obvious. It gives confidence to the team and it motivates us for all of our challenges, including the Champions League, of course.

This tie could finally make PSG a European great. Do you feel that in the dressing room?

"We all feel as though it will be difficult, but at the same time it's something prestigious. It's both things. It will be special to play against Real Madrid, a club with so much history. That motivates you and makes you excited to go out onto the pitch. However, it will be difficult, as we face an opponent with a lot of experience and with players who can make a difference in any given minute. We always want to be better, to keep growing as an institution and to gain experience."

What has Unai Emery brought to the team as a coach?

"Confidence, first and foremost. He is a coach who works in large part with motivation and this is essential and useful for a player. In football and in life, you need to have confidence and Emery does a good job in this sense. To train a team with great players and huge signings is easy in some respects and difficult in other respects. New players arrive and it needs time. Emery brings a lot of positives."

We saw in Spain last year's match against Barcelona and the refereeing of Deniz Aytekin. Have you gotten over that yet?

"Football depends on a lot of things. It's not simple. The most mature team and the Champions League favourite can be knocked out, while a new team of lower quality can surprise. Football, as far as I see it, is based on hard work. And if you work, and also have quality, then you can overcome everything. As for the match at the Camp Nou, we lost an incredible match, but it was part of this club's path. We lost and learned. This PSG is a renewed one, with a lot of experience. It all adds up."

You haven't mentioned the referee by name.

"I'm not the kind of player to blame anybody. I believe in the work done on the pitch. In 98 percent of matches you lose because the opponent was better or you weren't up to scratch. Other things don't matter. The Barcelona match is one of those cases in which you ask yourself why it happened, not because I was involved, but because there were a lot of obvious and very clear things. But it's useless to return to that. Each person can judge it. It happened and it's in the past."

Returning to the Real Madrid match, do you expect a tie with lots of goals?

"It's inevitable to think about how the match will play out. You wonder about how Real Madrid are playing, about how they've managed these matches in previous years. I don't know if it will be a match with lots of goals. I don't think it will be. The first leg, at least, is always the tightest. They won't want us to score against them, while the away team usually tries to wait and counter attack. But, then again, it might not play out like this. Sometimes it's useless to imagine these things, because football is unpredictable. It will be an even match, in which there'll also be a need for lots of defensive work."

As a forward, you'll understand this. Cristiano Ronaldo isn't going through his best spell. So what can he do in this moment?

"Well, he has more experience than me and I'm sure he'll know how to get out of this situation. I believe that this won't make him uncomfortable. Being the kind of forward that he is, with such self-belief. As a forward, you know these things happen. In one match this motivation can come back."

What went through your head when you scored your 157th goal for PSG, one which made you the club's top scorer in history?

"I wasn't anxious that day. When I scored, I remembered the journey of all of these years. I'm the kind of person who looks back when I've achieved something important."

What goal would you like to score and where? In terms of goals you've not yet scored for PSG.

"It's clear. I've maybe not yet scored a scissor kick and I'd like to score one on the day of a major title for the club, in the final of the Champions League, for example. I have scored all kinds of goals, but I'm missing this scissor kick."

The last time you played at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, you couldn't score. Do you have unfinished business?

"I remember it. We had Laurent Blanc in the dugout and lost 1-0 to a goal from Nacho. It was in the group stages. And yes, of course it would be lovely to score at the Bernabeu. I hope I can score in Madrid to help my team."

PSG need to win the Champions League, so do the other domestic titles not matter? Do you see it this way?

"I like this question. I believe a history and a myth has been created around the Champions League. Obviously it is the best competition, but for me the league is very important. It's the result of a whole year of work. This legend of the Champions League makes supporters and players who come to Paris very excited. But I don't believe that a club like PSG, which is growing despite the big signings, has this need to win the Champions League, no matter what."

Let's talk about Kylian Mbappe

"I believe there are some who are born with talent, who have been touched by God's magic wand and who have class from a young age. And then there are other players who make it with lots of work. Both can turn out to be stars, but with different paths. Mbappe, for example, is a player who has an enormous potential and who is acquiring experience. He's already a worldwide figure, but it's up to him to be more and more. He is very young, even though he is recognised around the globe. To be a world-class name you can't just be a great player, but you also need to have personality and a certain behaviour and education. That's how you make it. That's the footballing life."