Tag: Christophe Galtier

  • Ligue 1: Achraf Hakimi sees red, Galtier fumes as Lorient stun PSG

    Ligue 1: Achraf Hakimi sees red, Galtier fumes as Lorient stun PSG

    Lorient shocked Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) with a 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes after the Ligue 1 leaders were reduced to 10 men.

    PSG were reduced when Achraf Hakimi was sent off early in the first half and they have now lost nine games in all competitions in this year.

    They remain on 75 points from 33 games and they could see their Ligue 1 lead cut to five points if Olympique Marseille beat Auxerre later on Sunday.

    Lorient moved up to 10th.

    Lorient took the lead in the 15th minute with some neat interplay on the right flank which stretched the PSG defence.

    This allowed Romain Faivre to put the ball into the box where an unmarked Enzo Le Fee fired home.

    PSG were down a man five minutes later when Hakimi received his second yellow card after a late challenge on Darline Yongwa.

    Kylian Mbappe then equalised in bizarre circumstances following an error from goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo.

    The Swiss goalkeeper recovered the ball and attempted to restart play by rolling it forward.

    But Mbappe —- who was walking back right beside him —- took the ball and pushed into an empty net.

    With the one man advantage, Lorient took the game to PSG with Le Fee and Faivre pulling the strings.

    The second goal came when Faivre danced into the box and his deflected cross from the byline fell to Yongwa, who made it 2-1.

    Amid jeers from the home fans, PSG huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser.

    Sergio Ramos headed over from a Lionel Messi corner-kick, while Mvogo also saved a Danilo Pereira header with his face.

    Bamba Dieng had a late goal ruled out for offside but he scored Lorient’s third a minute later to seal all three points.

    That was when he went one-on-one with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who saved the first effort before Dieng bundled it home.

    PSG’s Galtier slams “very stupid” Hakimi red card in loss to Lorient

    Achraf Hakimi’s red card in the loss to Lorient by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was “very stupid”, club coach Christophe Galtier said, asking his side to be more ambitious.

    The Ligue 1 champions slipped to a 3-1 defeat after they lost the defender inside the first 20 minutes to a second yellow card offence.

    The loss leaves PSG still with an eight-point cushion at the summit, although it would be slashed to five if rivals Marseille were to win against Auxerre later on Sunday.

    Reflecting on Hakimi’s red card, which came after poor challenges on Romain Faivre and Darlin Yongwa, Galtier professed his frustration with both the player and his side’s wider performance.

    “[There is] no reason for Achraf to be tense and nervous,” he said. “The second card is very stupid. [There was] no sign this week that he would be tense.

    “It’s a big disappointment, and we have to react quickly because we don’t know how many points we’re going to have. Our second half of the season [has been] very, very average.

    “There needs to be a collective but also an individual awareness. Too many players are looking inward. We have to look ahead.

    “The Troyes match is coming up. We’ve been first since the start of the championship, but we have to finish with victories. We have the ambition to do more.”

  • PSG: Coach Galtier calls Mbappe, Neymar to order over squabble

    PSG: Coach Galtier calls Mbappe, Neymar to order over squabble

    Paris Saint-Germain stars, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, were called to order by coach  Christophe Galtier, after both players had a spat  in PSG’s UCL defeat of Juventus on Wednesday at Parc de Princess.

    The French and the Brazilian have been best of friends since the beginning of season before the imbroglio that ensued in the PSG versus Juventus match.

    Both players have enjoyed great relationship between them in the French Ligue 1.

    Neymar and Mbappe have begun the season in a fine scoring form but their relationship has faced intense scrutiny following appearing fractious at times.

    However, Neymar felt bad when Mbappe after scoring two goals wasted an opportunity to set up Neymar from a goal scoring position in the PSG’s Champions League 2-1 win against Juventus in mid-week

    The pass would have enabled Neymar to score with a likely tap-in against Juventus.

    Speaking on the development ahead of PSG’s Ligue 1 tie against Brest on Saturday, Galtier said at his pre-match press conference, “The relationship is very good. That’s the truth. They’re often together in training.

    “Yes, there’s a situation in a match, but having spoken to Kylian Mbappe yesterday and I have also spoken to Ney, and from the discussion with Kylian Mbappe, there were two moments.

    “There was the first acceleration when there was possibly a chance to pass the ball, but it was more difficult. The second time was when Kylian Mbappe got into the penalty box and didn’t see Ney.

    “When you see the clip, it looks simple, but at the time, he had to make a decision. Kylian Mbappe was focused on the ball for shooting.

    “I am convinced that Kylian Mbappe will get assists for Neymar, just as Neymar is capable of performing assists for Kylian Mbappe.

    “There is nothing else negative about that since that piece of play in the game.”

  • PSG names Galtier new coach as Pochettino departs

    Christophe Galtier has been confirmed as the new Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) head coach after Mauricio Pochettino left the French Ligue 1 champions on Tuesday.

    PSG won the league by a margin of 15 points in the 2021/2022 season, but Pochettino departed on Tuesday following his failure to deliver their first UEFA Champions League title.

    Now, Galtier is the man who has been trusted to take over at PSG, strongly supported by new sporting director Luis Campos.

    Campos and Galtier have worked together previously when they combined at Lille to create the team that pipped PSG to the Ligue 1 title by a point in 2020/2021.

    Galtier left Lille days after they won that championship, joining Nice.

    But he spent only a single season on the French Riviera — finishing fifth and reaching the Coupe de France final — before leaving late last month.

    Nice have since brought back Lucien Favre as his replacement.

    That move came as speculation persisted around Galtier’s move to PSG, with Pochettino’s exit anticipated since the end of last season.

    Pochettino’s departure was confirmed just hours before Galtier appeared alongside PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi at a news conference.

    Galtier will be tasked with finally ending PSG’s wait for UEFA Champions League glory.

    Their latest failure in the competition came in a second-leg collapse against eventual winners Real Madrid in the last 16 state of the 2021/2022 competition.

    Galtier becomes the club’s sixth coach since 2012.

  • PSG sack Pochettino after 18 Months in charge of the club

    French Ligue 1  side Paris Saint-Germain have terminated Mauricio Pochettino’s contract after 18 months in charge of the club.

    The Argentine reportedly met PSG’s hierarchy early in June and the review of the 2021/22 season concluded with the decision that the Argentine would not continue as boss of the Ligue 1 club although the sacking was only finalised in July.

    The gaffer had won the Ligue 1 but failed to secure the Champions League trophy for the club despite boasting of an all-star line-up featuring Neymar, Lionel Messi and Mbappe.

    In a statement on its official Twitter handle, the French giants said: ‘Paris Saint-Germain confirm that Mauricio Pochettino has ended his role at the club.

    “We would like to thank Mauricio Pochettino and his staff for their work and wish them the best for the future.”

    Former Head coach of Nice, Christophe Galtier is expected to be confirmed as his replacement.

    Pochettino joined the French giants in January 2021 on an 18-month contract to replace outgoing Thomas Tuchel.

    The Argentine finished second in the league during his first campaign, crashed out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, but won the Coupe de France Final.

    Pochettino was formerly coach of English side Tottenham Hotspurs for five seasons.

    Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero is an Argentine professional football manager and former player.