The Champions League, the real test of Christophe Galtier

Published on: 06/09/2022 – 07:23 Since his appointment as PSG coach, Christophe Galtier and his team have dominated Ligue 1 and offered a convincing attacking game. However, for the 56-year-old Frenchman, the real test begins on Tuesday with the Champions League, Paris’s goal for several years. “The truth of the championship is not that of the Champions League.” Asked about a possible favorite status of his PSG in the queen of European competitions, Christophe Galtier had opted for the truism the day after the draw. However, rarely has such an obvious and wooden statement seemed so truthful to describe the situation of the new coach of Paris, before attacking the Champions League, Tuesday, September 6, with a muscular confrontation against Juventus Turin , at the Parc des Princes. With the end of the Mauricio Pochettino era, the establishment of an unprecedented sports management and a very active transfer window, Paris has given itself a serious facelift this summer and is walking on water in the league: the Parisians are leaders in League and crush everything in their path with their fiery attack (24 goals in 6 days) made up of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, who finally manage to play together. However, as with each new coach who has paraded since the arrival of the Qatari owners, one thing does not vary: whoever manages the bench will be judged on his ability to lift the cup with big ears by winning the Champions League. “We’re having a good run. We’re scoring goals, we’re quite consistent in the game, the players play for each other. But the C1 is another level,” warned Christophe Galtier on Saturday. Galtier is the one with the most to lose Expectations are high. The arrival of Juventus, the most formidable opponent on paper in Pool H, is certainly far from decisive to grab one of the two qualifying places in the round of 16, which the Parisians have never missed since. 2013. But in terms of image, a bad result would be messy and spoil a smooth debut for the bosses of the sports sector. Galtier is the one with the most to lose. The former technician from Lille and Nice must quickly get rid of the doubts that accompanied his appointment, especially those concerning his weak European experience. If for the moment, he is flawless in his ability to manage stars with oversized egos, a first for him, the Champions League remains an unknown. His only participation in 2019/2020 with Lille had indeed ended in a fiasco: 1 draw, 5 defeats in 6 games. In his defense, his workforce in Lille had of course nothing to do with the one he has at hand in Paris. And that’s good: the stars of the capital are in sparkling form. A “MNM” found Messi and Neymar, ghostly during the previous exercise, have regained their wings as the World Cup-2022 approaches (November 20-December 18) and Kylian Mbappé, erected as the gondola head of the project with its extension in large pump until 2025, remained on the same bases as last season (at the top of the Ligue 1 scorers’ rankings with 7 goals, tied with Neymar). The Parisian coach must deal with an important factor: an ultra-tight and ultra-loaded schedule due to the start of the World Cup. “We are starting a 21-day cycle with 7 matches playing every 3 days, I have a quality squad and I will have to rely on this squad” to keep going and with the right pace. One of the solutions, therefore, is to rotate its workforce, “I will make sure that the players are not tired or that we are not very close to an injury”, he assured in conference of press the day after the draw. And for the moment, he manages to spare the susceptibilities. Benched for the trip to Nantes, Neymar did not flinch or show signs of annoyance while “Galette” justified the decision by a need for recovery from Brazil. For the moment, Christophe Galtier has everything good. It therefore remains to be confirmed against a particularly diminished Juventus because deprived of Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa and Wojciech Szczesny, while the former Parisians Adrien Rabiot, Angel Di Maria and Danilo are uncertain. With AFP