MY ACCOUNT
Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier hinted further arrivals are imminent after his side wrapped up their pre-season tour of Japan by thrashing Gamba Osaka 6-2.
Meanwhile, despite star trio Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar all netting during Monday’s rout, Galtier was frustrated by his team’s defending, insisting they must improve after conceding “two goals too many”.
With Messi starting alongside Neymar and Pablo Sarabia in a 3-4-3 shape, PSG eased to a 4-1 half-time lead as each of the front three joined Nuno Mendes on the scoresheet.
Neymar grabbed his second after the break before Mbappe came on to convert a late penalty, ensuring PSG finished their tour of Japan with three wins from three outings.
Having already signed creative midfielder Vitinha, PSG are expected to carry out further recruitment ahead of their Ligue 1 campaign starting on August 6.
It was revealed on Monday that RB Leipzig’s Nordi Mukiele would miss the German team’s DFL-Supercup meeting with Bayern Munich while he finalises a move to Paris, and Galtier is hoping for more new arrivals to follow the defender.
“The club is working to improve and make this squad stronger,” he told a post-match news conference.
“We’re going to fly, we’re going to take a long 12-hour journey, we’re going to sleep and when we land we might have one or two, even three more players… We’ll see what happens this week.”
PSG produced a scintillating attacking performance in their final pre-season outing, only slightly outperforming their 5.65 expected goals (xG) and recording 17 attempts on target, but Galtier was left unimpressed by their two concessions.
Galtier coached Nice to Ligue 1’s joint-best defensive record last term (36 goals conceded, level with PSG), while his title-winning Lille side of 2020-21 conceded only 23 goals and kept a league-high 21 clean sheets.
Having built a reputation for his strong defensive organisation, Galtier stressed PSG must improve off the ball.
“I’m happy with the first half, the second we were tired. We conceded two goals, two goals too many,” Galtier added. “Even if we have a big goal difference, I would like us to be hard to beat. It’s a major line of work.
“Annoyed? That’s not the term. On the second goal, we have to be more structured and not disorderly. We weren’t in the right timing, we couldn’t manage to get back on track. This is an important line of work, we have to show a tougher face for future matches.
“[But] even if we don’t want to concede too many chances and concede goals, my players’ DNA is to play, take risks and attack as much as possible. We’re not going to change that.”
