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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Christophe Galtier has given his opinion about Marco Verratti’s second-half mistake against Bayern Munich, suggesting that the under-pressure Italian did not make the right call.
Galtier’s PSG succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in the second leg of their Champions League Round-of-16 clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday night (8 March). The 3-0 defeat on aggregate saw the Parisians fail to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals for the second consecutive season. Real Madrid knocked them out at the same stage in the 2021-22 season with a 3-2 aggregate scoreline.
Bayern Munich drew first blood in the 61st minute after Verratti was dispossessed in the final third by the tag team of Thomas Muller and Leon Goretzka. The latter then played a simple square pass to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who made no mistake finding the back of the net from close range.
Reacting to Bayern Munich’s opening goal, Galtier admitted that it was a bad one to concede. He further stated that playing the ball long instead of dribbling his way out would have been the right move for Verratti. The French manager told Canal+:
“In the second half, we took this really stupid goal. At this level, you have to be a little more lucid. We were obviously under pressure from Bayern, but we knew that.
“We should not be ashamed to break this pressure by playing long.”
After Choupo-Moting put Bayern in control in the 61st minute, Serge Gnabry landed the knockout blow in the 89th minute to throw PSG out of the Champions League.
PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe had a night to forget against Bayern Munich
Having scored 30 goals in as many games prior to the return leg against Bayern Munich, Kylian Mbappe went into the game as the player to look out for. Instead of giving into Mbappe’s aura of inevitability, the Bavarians decided to fight back and ultimately get the result they wanted.
They closed Mbappe down without hesitation, not allowing the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner to stretch his legs. They also cut his ties with Lionel Messi, which kept him from combining with the Argentine and sliding into dangerous areas.
As a result, Mbappe had only one on-target attempt on Wednesday, which was comfortably saved by Yann Sommer in the first half. He also lost all six of his duels, failed to complete any dribbles (three attempts), and completed only 14 passes (77.8% accuracy). All in all, it was a bad day at the office for PSG’s leading scorer of the 2022-23 season.
