In this tormented extra-sporting period that Paris-Saint-Germain is going through, the series of matches that is coming up will surely do good for the players of the capital.
This evening, the Parisian club begins a series of eleven matches in a month and a half. A marathon that will force coach Christophe Galtier to carefully manage his star squad as the World Cup approaches. After two weeks of international break, the Parisian players do not have time to breathe and will very quickly be confronted with a daunting program which will give them no respite between now and the start of the World Cup in Qatar (November 20- December 18).
A tantalizing program “from a long series”
With seven L1 matches, including the classic against Marseille (October 16), and four in the Champions League marked by two complicated trips to the lawns of Benfica Lisbon (October 5) and Juventus Turin (November 2), the L1 leader will be put to the test. And it all starts against Nice, “It’s the first game of a long series”admitted on Thursday coach Christophe Galtier who then backed up his point:
We are preparing for this, we are very careful on a physical level. We will play every three days, trips, decisive matches. We must be focused on the management of our workforce but also clear our heads to keep our lucidity.
The unavailability of Presnel Kimpembe, affected in the left hamstrings and currently in Doha for treatment, already limits the room for maneuver on the defensive plan of Galtier, obliged to juggle with five players for three places in the axis (Sergio Ramos , Marquinhos, Danilo, Nordi Mukiele, El Chadaille Bitshiabu). The situation improves on the other hand in the midfield with the return to training Friday of Marco Verratti, package for the rally of Italy. But the “Little Owl” is suspended against Nice and Renato Sanches, who returned to the group after an adductor injury, will probably be a little tight to start against the Aiglons, the Spaniard Fabian Ruiz in front in this case teaming up with Portugal’s Vitinha in the middle.
Manage the “MNM”
Managing playing time will above all be a thorny and sensitive issue with the “MNM” (Messi, Neymar, Mbappé), given the lack of appetite of the three stars to go out during the game. The first trend is a possible benching of Mbappé, see Messi for this meeting against Nice. And when we remember, Neymar’s pout and cold anger when he was replaced in the 86th minute in Lyon (1-0, September 18) this says a lot about Galtier’s difficulty in establishing a minimum rotation within his offensive trident.
Part of the solution lies, according to Galtier, in greater attacking efficiency, which would make it possible to kill matches more quickly and make it easier to swallow the pill of a change for the three attackers. “If we can hurt the opponent quickly, it will always be beneficial for the management of the squad and playing time. We had a start to the season where we were very efficient, but we only played one game a week. . Now there is more fatigue”noted Thursday the technician, who recrosses his former club Nice, three months after his departure. In any case, Galtier will need a lot of psychology to spare everyone’s egos, while preserving the physique of his superstars.
With AFP