PSG coach hopes turning around Bayern deficit
Paris Saint-Germain coach, Christophe Galtier, said he was hopeful his side could still qualify for the quarterfinals of the Champions League despite losing 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday.
“It might seem a banal thing to say but tonight nobody is through and nobody is out. I am daring to hope that we will be fresher in three weeks and if we can play the way we played in the last 25 to 30 minutes then we can beat Bayern,” said Galtier.
Kingsley Coman scored the only goal of the game in Paris against his former club, finishing from an Alphonso Davies cross eight minutes into the second half.
PSG were poor for long spells but improved towards the end after Kylian Mbappe came off the bench on his return from a thigh injury and injected pace and direction into the Parisian attack.
Mbappe twice had goals disallowed for offside, with his second attempt eight minutes from the end from a Nuno Mendes cutback only being ruled out because of a highly marginal call.
“The return leg will be in three weeks so we can hopefully get more players back for then and be fresher,” added Galtier, who had to contend with Morocco right-back Achraf Hakimi coming off hurt at halftime.
“We can’t say how long he will be out. Achraf had an intense World Cup where he played on through the pain and it was already difficult at Monaco (a 3-1 defeat on Saturday) where he couldn’t start,” he said.
“We took the risk this time, but he developed a muscle problem early on.
“Unfortunately, we conceded just as we were preparing for Kylian to come on. We had two or three chances and sadly it was not enough but the last half an hour gives us hope.”
The second leg will be played at the Allianz Arena on March 8. —AFP
