Paris (AP) – Christophe Galtier doesn’t assume he will be in demand as a Franco-Argentine crisis mediator in the new year.
In any case, Galtier’s inferior compatriot Kylian Mbappé was in high spirits during training at Paris Saint-Germain. Laughing and smiling, the French super striker took to the training ground in Paris.
A cap on your head, your hands in warm gloves when the temperature is in the single digits, but ready and above all warm for a quick return to the pitch. Better this Wednesday (21:00), together with Neymar, eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup: relief from the frustration after the World Cup low blows in PSG’s home game against RC Strasbourg.
“Physically everything is going according to plan, mentally he just wants to play. That’s a good sign,” Galtier said of Neymar. The Brazilian, so depressed after the World Cup, also preferred to train in hat and gloves in the first 15 minutes that PSG broadcast the session on their website on Tuesday, including with Achraf Hakimi of World Cup Sensations -Fourth Morocco.
Messi expected in Paris on 2 or 3 January
Because it was actually not as hot as it was some 11,000 kilometers away in Messi’s hometown of Rosario. The world champion can enjoy the pleasant 30 degrees of the South American summer for a few more days. He is free until 1 January and the 35-year-old is expected to return to PSG on 2 or 3 January. It also means: Messi will not only be absent against Strasbourg, but also next Sunday when leaders PSG are due to play early pursuer RC Lens for the matchday cracker.
So it won’t be until the new year that Messi, the Argentine triumphant world champion, and Mbappé, the slightly less outstanding but beaten on penalties, from France will meet again. PSG manager Galtier declined to comment too much on the fact that the South Americans poured scorn and scorn on their opponents in the final during their wet and happy celebrations. It depends on the Argentines, he underlined.
Galtier declined to comment on Martínez’s behavior
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in particular was uncomfortably noted by his deposits, he had purposely mocked Mbappé when he held a doll with Mbappé’s crying face in his hands on the open-top bus at the world champions parade. “I don’t have to comment on the goalkeeper’s behaviour,” said Galtier.
The most important thing is what he saw in the final, when Mbappé, also awarded as top scorer at the World Cup in Qatar, congratulated Messi and also Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni despite all the strong disappointment.
However, it will be exciting to see how things play out with PSG’s noble offensive, round of 16 opponents of record German champions FC Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Two superstars who react after the disappointments of the World Cup and want to console themselves with sporting success. Also, a superstar who, towards the end of his career, ventured into new horizons and crowned his passion for football with the biggest title, but still can’t get enough of achievements and trophies. The newspaper “Le Parisien” has already reported that there would already be an agreement in principle to extend Messi’s contract, which expires next summer, until June 2025.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221227-99-24470/6
