Already guaranteed to play in the round of 16 of the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain is not, however, moving to Turin on Wednesday, with a cigarette in its mouth and an elbow on the door. “Novices may think that it will be a match less hung than another, it will not be the case”, thundered Christophe Galtier this Tuesday evening at a press conference.
Before this last hen day, PSG lead Group H with 11 points, like Benfica, but with a better goal difference (+8 against +4). And for his coach, that means a lot. “It is our ambition and our duty to finish first, to wait for a more lenient draw,” he said.
remember last season
No need to go back very far to understand what the former technician from Nice wants to talk about. Last season, Paris finished second in the pool, a small point behind Manchester City, and recovered Real Madrid in the round of 16. For those who have memory lapses, you can click here to refresh it.
Faced with a modest Juventus 7th in Serie A, whose only continental objective remains to hang a folding seat in the Europa League, Paris therefore intends to continue its series of invincibility which is still running this season. Even without Neymar (suspended), nor Presnel Kimpembe (painful Achilles tendon at the coach on Tuesday morning), but with Danilo Pereira, back from injury.
Galtier told his players, and the media, that he was waiting for a tight defense again, after the five goals conceded in his last two outings, against Maccabi Haifa (7-2) then Troyes (4-3) . “We lose a lot of second balls in the penalty area on set pieces, for lack of concentration and sometimes investment,” lamented the Parisian coach, who recalled the quality of Juventus in this sector. One of the few where the Old Lady still deludes.