Christophe Galtier, coach of Paris Saint-Germain for the 2022-2023 season, was the guest of Ici Paris this Friday morning. He spoke at length about the current PSG, coached by Luis Enrique since his departure, with the 2024-2025 Champions League final to be contested tomorrow evening against Inter Milan. In his opinion, this Paris, which has grown up a lot, has all the necessary assets.
Galtier “Their first asset is their collective strength.”
“They’re a team that’s had an incredible run since the Round of 16: they’ve managed to eliminate the Premier League’s first and second […] Their first asset is their collective strength. They exude strength, a desire to play together and to make the effort together, with and without the ball.
Paris have the means to destabilize this compact, low block, because in small spaces Paris can make the difference. Even if Inter have had more experience over the last few seasons, the way PSG are playing means we can look forward to a great Parisian evening.
Galtier: “The best individuals in the world, combined, don’t make a team.”
As far as I know, there were certainly some of the best individuals in the world. But the best individualities in the world don’t make a team. What’s emerging today is an impressive collective, with the ability to run a lot of kilometers at high intensity.
There’s this ability to see everyone attacking and defending. It’s very mobile. There’s a lot of movement within the game, but also a lot of unzoning, speed and percussion on an offensive level. It’s a very modern team.
Galtier “the game wasn’t leaning right but left, and he was frustrated at not being able to express himself.”
I’m not surprised to see Donnaruma and Vitinha at this level. But I’m very happy to see Achraf Hakimi expressing himself fully. When I was here, it was very difficult for him to express himself because the game wasn’t tilted to the right but to the left, and he was frustrated at not being able to express himself. What Ashraf is doing now, I knew he was capable of doing, and today he is, in my eyes, surely the best right-back in the world.”
It’s a rather lucid observation that Galtier makes here. He had some immense individuals under his command, but PSG never came close to being as strong as a team as they are today. Even so, we mustn’t forget that PSG has some great players.
But above all, coach Luis Enrique has added different weapons to the game and an impressive defensive activity. It’s even suffocating for opponents. Galtier hasn’t managed to have such an influence, perhaps due to a lack of support from his management in the face of very strong egos.
We can even see his powerlessness at work here, with Achraf Hakimi not used enough, as the game was going the other way. It was as if the coach hadn’t even been able to try anything else. At least Paris took the right decisions afterwards, so as to start from a much healthier and more solid base.
And that’s what gives us hope of winning the Champions League. Even if there’s still a very difficult step to take against a fine Inter Milan side.
