The Parisian coach takes stock after the draw against Benfica (1-1) on Tuesday and at the end of a day marked by “rumors” about Mbappé.
Brake after three draws in a row : “Yes, we can consider it that way. When you are PSG, you have to win, to be more dangerous. This match is unlike anything we experienced last week in Lisbon, where teams conceded or created more situations. Is it due to the analysis of the coaches to concede fewer situations and make the teams more airtight? Maybe it was a game in which the defenses took over the attacks, although I think we were under less pressure, we used the ball better, but as we approached the last 30, 20 meters , instead of accelerating and being on the percussion, of the game forward, we slowed down the game, which allowed Benfica to replace themselves and be on a low block. And there, it was more difficult.»
PSG less dashing than at the start of the season : “The conclusion is correct. We are less flashy, less brilliant, less dangerous. I don’t think there is a stroke less of course on the physical level. Simply, at the start of the season and the first matches, we had a lot more play in the verticality and it went much faster once we had released the ball, that we had created the shifts, it went much faster on the sides, in the penalty area. Every time we take the ball out, and we took it out quite often tonight, we made an extra touch, we went back and that allowed the opposing defensive block to reposition itself and be much harder to beat. . Obviously, this is an important line of work and it also leads to a global reflection on the first months, with some interesting things and others, a little less so. Right now, things are less interesting. There is a global reflection on the state of form of each other, the state of form of the workforce with the sequence of matches, but also on the fact of bringing one or even two additional players a little more high on the ground in order to be much more dangerous.»
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Kylian Mbappé’s supposed departure desires : “What I know ? Nothing ! I know nothing. I just know that a rumor has become information, and information has almost become a statement. I find it very surprising that a rumor like this comes a few hours before a very important game. I didn’t see anything different from Kylian in the preparation for the match. I never got wind of this kind of information, reflection, discussion, whether with Kylian himself or the management of the club. Kylian had a very complete, very intense match. He was the most dangerous player. He scored (penalty goal in the 40th). He could have scored a second goal which was unfortunately ruled out due to an offside position for a few centimeters. He gave an answer to this rumor. Then, I don’t have to comment, except that from a rumor we made information that became a statement. But we stayed focused on the game and I don’t think this rumor disrupted the preparation for the game.»
The pre-match in this stormy context : “I have not broached the subject at all with my players or the staff, individually or collectively. We remained focused on preparing for this important match. I haven’t seen any players upset about that.»
Who is this rumor for?
Christophe Galtier
Surprised or not by the information revealed during the day : “Of course I’m surprised. It’s a rumor! Whether this rumor comes out four or five hours before kick-off, in full preparation for this match, I have the right to be arrested. Who is this rumor for? It’s a question you can ask in the media, with a little banner on television. Especially not to us…»
Changes of players but no system at the end of the match : “There was a change by adding an additional striker with the entry of Hugo (Ekitike). Then, on a change of system during the match, I note that we did not often stay three behind. In the middle, we played with Marco Verratti and Marquinhos, with Vitinha and Neymar above. There was what we had to do in possession and in our ball outings, and afterwards, it was important to keep a central axis with three given the depth and the game they had inside. But for almost the entire match, we played with two midfielders and two others higher up, with two strikers, even if Pablo Sarabia is not really a striker, he is a side player, that’s why that I brought in Hugo Ekitike.»
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Marquinhos’ positioning in midfield : “The idea was to get out of the pressure from Benfica compared to what we had seen in the first leg. We had done it, but not enough in my opinion. We insisted on this in the preparation for the meeting, to be able to end up with two midfielders and have someone more behind the backs of Benfica midfielders, in this case Vitinha and Ney, by fixing the two opposing midfielders on the outings. ball with Marco Verratti and Marquinhos. It functioned. What worked less well was that once we got out of the pressure, whether it was high or mid, we didn’t accelerate like we should have accelerated, we didn’t thrown forward rapidly as the shifts were made.»
Statements taken at a press conference
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