PSG face Juventus Turin in Piedmont on Wednesday. He will try to keep his first place in the pool in the Champions League. Christophe Galtier was at a press conference at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Do you think this is the right year for PSG in the Champions League?
There is a lot of expectation around PSG in France, even in Europe. It’s normal when you see our squad, with world-class players with great experience. We couldn’t win it but it’s very difficult to win this competition. Matches are often irrational. PSG are very close to winning and we hope it will be this year. Last season, the scenario was incredible in the round of 16. The club, the president, the sports management are doing everything to get there.
Why is Presnel Kimpembe, who had just returned from injury, forfeited?
He had returned to the group. Everything was fine. We walked on his Achilles tendon this morning which was already sore. The pain was too much to participate in tomorrow’s game (Wednesday). There is nothing alarming compared to the matches that we still have to play (Lorient and Auxerre).
Is finishing first in the group essential?
It’s still more pleasant to come for the last match and to be already qualified. The objective is to finish first and we know the consequences. It is a very important sporting objective. We are very focused on that. Novices may think this will be an easy game. This will not be the case. We have the ambition and the duty to finish first to wait for a more lenient draw. Opposite, it is Juve who will do everything to first qualify for the Europa League and then because it is a historic club that feels a lot of pride and pride. We are very determined to obtain this first place.
Winning in Turin would be unprecedented….
There is no desire to beat Juve because historically it has never been the case on their ground. We want to win because we want first place.
How do you explain your failure on defensive corners?
I made this observation. I was very annoyed after the last two games. There are positions that are not respected but it is also a question of state of mind, of commitment. I talked about it this morning with my players. We lose a lot of second balls, which denotes a lack of investment. It needs to be fixed. Juventus scores a lot from set pieces. We will be called upon in this area tomorrow (Wednesday). You will have to be vigilant.
Is PSG made to live in imbalance?
No, but we have player profiles and a way of playing that leads to an imbalance. We want to attack. But the reaction to the loss of the ball, I spoke about it and I will continue to speak about it tomorrow (Wednesday during the chat). In the last two games, we were very close to the opponent without winning the duels. So we have to fix it. We must have more skills and make tactical mistakes to stop dangerous transitions.
Why are Juventus eliminated from the competition in your opinion?
She lacked success and never had her typical team in the competition. There were a lot of absentees, world-class players like Paul Pogba or Federico Chiesa. It takes a lot of world-class elements and they’ve been missing. This is the main reason for me for the elimination of Juve.