Galtier, PSG Head Coach Believes Bayern Can Improve Their Deficit
The first leg of Paris Saint-Germain‘s last-16 match against Bayern Munich ended in a 1-0 loss for the French team, but coach Christophe Galtier expressed optimism that his team may still go to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Although it may sound cliché, tonight nobody is through and nobody is out. We should be more rested in three weeks, and if we can play as we did in the final 25 to 30 minutes, we can defeat Bayern, I dare hope.
Eight minutes into the second half, Kingsley Coman finished off an Alphonso Davies cross to score the game’s sole goal in Paris against his previous team.
After Kylian Mbappe returned from a thigh injury and came off the bench, PSG started to play better toward the end. Mbappe gave the Parisian attack some pace and direction.
Mbappe had two goals rejected for offside, with his second attempt, which came from a Nuno Mendes cutback eight minutes from the end, only being denied due to a very slight ruling.
Galtier, who had to deal with Morocco’s right-back Achraf Hakimi leaving the game injured before halftime, said, “The return leg will be in three weeks so we can hopefully have more guys back for then and be fresher.”
We are unable to predict his length of absence. Achraf experienced a challenging World Cup in which he continued to play despite his agony, and it was already challenging at Monaco (a 3-1 loss on Saturday) because he couldn’t start, he stated.
“We took a chance this time, but he had a muscle issue right away.
“Unfortunately, we gave up just before Kylian was about to enter the game. Unfortunately, our two or three chances were not enough, but the last half-hour gives us hope.”
On March 8, the second leg will take place at the Allianz Arena.
