Galtier has opened up on his time at PSG
Christophe Galtier, currently coach of Qatar’s Al-Duhail SC, reviews in an extensive interview with L’Equipe his past at PSG and one of the toughest periods of his life: the coach was accused of racism during his time as coach of Nice, of which he was acquitted last December.
“Racism and discrimination are not part of my software because I grew up in a multicultural environment and I evolved, throughout my career. It was a real shock to be referred to the court,” he says in the newspaper in which he explains what he believes was the reason for this complaint.
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“I was the victim of revenge. This thesis of revenge is not mine, it appears in the judicial sentence […] It was an infamy. […] Justice has established my innocence. That is why I am happy. The accusations against me made no sense.”
Something unique in France
Galtier also spoke about the three stars he coached at PSG: Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
“All three had to participate and play together. That was my obsession. I don’t think we’ll see that again in France. They were performing very well, both in terms of play and commitment, but we lost Neymar (he was injured),” he says.
On how he deals with such players, he commented: “Management is different. Discussions take place in an office, face to face. They are very individual. With these extraordinary players, the slightest reaction, the slightest glance, an inappropriate smile, a wink or a gesture takes on international and global proportions. An example: in our first Champions League game against Juventus, we won and I felt I had to take Messi off at the end of the game, not to make anyone better or anything, but to protect him physically.”
“I thought it was a logical decision. After the game, everyone told me that it was the first time Messi had left the field in a Champions League match (referring to the games with PSG). That’s when you realize and confirm that you are coaching players who are much more than players. When I started coaching them, I said to myself: what do these guys have that normal people don’t have? They have nothing. You just have to support them.”
Finally, the coach assures that Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, despite being global icons, do not have oversized egos.
“They are normal people, simple, accessible, professional and open to discussion,” he ends.