More fear than harm. For his second match in the Champions League on the PSG bench, Christophe Galtier is an undefeated coach. But at the end of the difficult success gleaned this Wednesday against Maccabi Haifa (3-1), the Parisian coach explained why his team, which seemed weighed down by an excess of sufficiency, had missed its first period.
Were you surprised by the resistance Maccabi Haifa put up against you?
CHRISTOPHER GALTIER. Surprised, no. We had analyzed the game of Maccabi which is an organized team, with talented players. She put a lot of intensity as she had against Benfica and in the preliminary rounds. We also knew what to expect with the atmosphere, it is magnificent. Haifa is a very playful, very intense team which gave us a lot of problems in the first half.
Are the difficulties displayed this evening of a nature to worry you?
It is a line of work. In the first half we had clear situations but we missed things, perhaps because of this very different pitch, where we sometimes saw Neymar and Kylian “hang” in the last gesture. There has been confusion about how to defend with the team block. There was a willingness from the three attackers to defend quickly. It put pressure on our midfielders and our lane men couldn’t get out the way they wanted. It made our first period difficult. Donnarumma makes important saves, we take a goal on a bad ball exit. But we were in difficulty because there were too many distances in the team block. In the second, we were better balanced, we won the ball where we needed to, we put our game down, our midfielders were less isolated because our three attacking players were lower and our defensive players were higher, which allowed us to be a lot more compact.
After Brest, it’s a second less successful performance. Is Paris tired?
No, there is no fatigue, but there are also opponents who had a good match. They work on our game, as we do on theirs. But we will talk again with the players about how we should be organized to avoid taking waves. It’s a line of work, but we have few sessions to work on that by playing every three days.
The Parisian defense appeared unusually feverish. Has Paris been complacent?
No, it’s just an impression, the players didn’t take the game quietly. We had difficulties because there was quality in the crosses, athletic quality in the area. When we are cut in two we take waves upon waves. It was much better in the second half. Obviously, there was a big Champions League atmosphere, but that’s always pleasant, the players are used to it. There was no relaxation.
Wasn’t there an investment problem, especially on the part of the three attacking stars?
It’s not an investment issue. But in front, they quickly let go of the pressing because behind it was not following. There was a relaxation in the first period, but it is not linked to a lack of desire. We talked about it at the break, which allowed us to have a better second half. They wanted to recover the ball quickly, but from the moment it did not follow, they quickly released. These are players who want to be high quickly. It is not a question of ill will. There was a quick renunciation but it was linked to a bad way of pressing to recover the ball.
What happened to Neymar’s goal?
I had no explanation. I asked him to stay very calm, he had just scored a magnificent and very important goal for us. The referee considered that there was a little too excessive celebration on the goal. This is a very severe card for me.
Neymar’s frustrating game, which you could have taken out before he scored, is it difficult for a manager to manage?
No, fortunately we have these attackers to score, fortunately we have Messi, Mbappé and Neymar. They are very high level players. There can be frustration like for Kylian. But Ney gave us a lot of balance in the second half working for the team block which made our second half much better.
Was Hakimi on the bench to save him from being whistled by the public?
He did not start because he had just played 8 games out of 9. This has nothing to do with what happened at the Trophées des Champions (note: whistled because of his support for the Palestinian cause). I wanted freshness in the team.