This Wednesday, on the occasion of the second day of the group stage of the Champions League, PSG faces in Israel Maccabi Haifa, defeated last week (2-0) in Lisbon against Benfica. On the eve of this meeting, Christophe Galtier, the coach of the capital club, was at a press conference at Camp des Loges.
Is Marco Verratti the real launching pad for the Parisian game?
Christophe Galtier. For ten years that he has been playing in France, we know Marco perfectly. He gives a good balance, he is very fine tactically. He places himself where he needs to be in relation to his partners. There is a pair that emerges, Verratti – Vitinha, but we must associate Neymar and Leo Messi with them. He has this intelligence of knowing when to play short, long, feed deep.
What is your assessment of the game system you have put in place?
On the offensive animation, we have high statistics in goals and in situations created. We saw it again against Brest (1-0) last Saturday. We have to work on different options to keep our balance and recover the ball. We have very little time to work on this. As soon as we have 15 minutes, we insist, the staff and I, on this aspect, the recovery of the ball.
Do you fear fatigue with the sequence of matches?
My players are used to playing this competition. Everyone was aligned this morning (Tuesday) in training. It’s the second match, with a very well organized opponent, very good tactically, with a public that will push. My players are used to this competition. I saw again this morning that they were lined up during the session.
What have you changed that allows you to find the real Neymar at the start of the season?
It would be simplistic to think that it is thanks to me or my staff, with the arrival of a new team, that Neymar has made this start to the season. There is an awareness, compared to last season when he was less present, less efficient. He has very high goals. It arrived on time, fit, very fit, very square. I decided very quickly to put it in the best conditions. But I could say the same for Kylian (Mbappé) or Leo (Messi). Neymar is a creator, a finisher, an artist. I underline because I discovered him: he works a lot for the team, in the attacking game as in the desire to recover the ball.
With the six weeks of absence of Presnel Kimpembe, do you regret the non-recruitment of a central defender?
We wanted an additional central defender because this schedule is crazy. We were right. Then there is what we can do. I understand my president for not having accepted the conditions of Inter Milan. We have versatile players. Will it be necessary to change organization or integrate a very young player? We’ll see. Luis Campos was keen on this defender. Unfortunately, we were unable to recruit him.