Champions League: PSG coach after Aus: “My colleague’s tactical victory”

After Paris Saint-Germain’s knockout round in the Champions League against FC Bayern Munich, coach Christophe Galtier identified the difficult schedule in the World Cup season as one of the reasons for his team’s knockout.

“It’s not because of the formation of the squad, but because of a season with a fully loaded game calendar,” said the 56-year-old after the 0: 2 in Munich.

Due to the Winter World Cup in Qatar, the schedule had to be adjusted. The stars of the top clubs had to play an exhausting tournament in the middle of the season. PSG stars Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappé (France) were in the World Cup final with their national teams.

Bayern could not be stopped

PSG hit the Bayern duel mainly on the defensive. Captain Marquinhos had to leave the field early, and Nordi Mukiele, who came on for him, had to leave quickly afterwards. Presnel Kimpembe was out injured anyway. Galtier complained that the failures in defense were particularly serious. On offense he had to do without the injured Brazilian Neymar in the round of 16 second leg.

After the 0-1 in the first leg, the star ensemble around Messi and Mbappé didn’t do enough to stop Bayern. When Galtier was asked whether it was also a tactical victory for Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann, he replied: “You can put it that way. A tactical victory for my colleague, perhaps.” The sticking point of the game was that no goal was scored in the first half. Vitinha’s aimless shot at the empty goal was cleared with great effort by Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt.