To tremble is not to fall.
Paris got scared on Saturday night against a Nice squad that long seemed able to grab the draw.
But although uninspired, the leader nevertheless managed to pocket the three points of success thanks to two of his three MNM geniuses, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé (2-1).
An evening that Christophe Galtier, the Parisian coach, took care to debrief at a press conference, emphasizing the importance of his Argentinian strategist.
Lionel Messi, who scored his first direct free kick with Paris, seems much more comfortable in Paris than last season.
Do you have the impression of seeing him become the best player in the world again?
CHRISTOPHER GALTIER.
I have an incredible pleasure to see him every morning in training and it is a real pleasure to work with him.
He is well in his head, very happy to come to train every day.
He is very altruistic, he animates the game and is very generous with his partners.
But he is a player who has always had the habit of scoring a lot of goals in a season.
Last season was very complicated for him, but he had extenuating circumstances.
There, he regains a taste for scoring, he is decisive.
Can he become the best player in the world again?
Yes, because he is in incredible shape, he is well prepared.
Every day he has a relationship with his partners which makes me think he is happy and when Leo is happy he performs.
He can find the standards that have been his throughout his career.
He is the only outfield player to have started all twelve games for PSG.
Can it be managed like the others?
Regarding Leo, of course we pay attention.
I knew he hadn't played much in the second match for Argentina and after talking to him, he told me he could hold his own and didn't need to breathe.
As it is always important to win, it seemed difficult for me to take it out because we need certain associations.
In the end, it paid off.
The upcoming deadlines, in particular the World Cup, do they explain that Paris has done the minimum service tonight?
The international break combined with Wednesday's match at Benfica may lead to a demobilization among the players.
It's very difficult to return to a competition when you have traveled a lot and played with your team.
We had very little time to work.
Did the players do a minimum service?
I don't think so, I rather think that Nice had a very good game.
The first period had left me thinking that we could accelerate but patatrac... We had a very bad start to the second period with few races, little intensity, a lot of technical waste.
We left the monopoly of the game to Nice for 15-20 minutes and their equalizer is deserved.
We had to inject new blood into all sectors to bring percussion and speed.
The World Cup, I don't talk about it with the players.
It seems early to me
but it will run through their minds.
That's why you need to score points.
Hakimi said he came back with a lot of selection fatigue.
Did you feel it in your players tonight?
Yes, we had a hard time setting the pace.
If Hakimi talks about it... They all played a lot, but I can't blow them all away.
It's a very special season, very compact with international matches and the Champions League.
I saw fatigue, players who took a long time to enter the match and to restart in the second period.
Is this Mukiele's best game since the start of the season?
I don't know if it's his best game, but I'm happy with his game.
I blamed him for not taking Diop, from the moment he rectified that, it changed.
He is confident, has energy, legs.
Why did you choose to leave Kylian Mbappé on the bench?
Is this the result of a discussion you had with him?
I have management for the entire workforce.
Regarding Kylian, he took a shock to the hip during the match against Denmark and he returned on Wednesday after 48 hours of rest.
Thursday his pain woke up and yesterday (Friday) he still had a hematoma.
In talking with him, it seemed appropriate to me not to start him because he was apprehensive, but I appreciated that he remained available for this meeting.
And then there was also a focus on the next game.
