In the small press room of the Moustoir, Christophe Galtier sits on the seat in the colors of Lorient.
Behind two bottles of Breizh iced tea, he looks back on the success obtained with difficulty due to fatigue, very difficult terrain and attractive Lorient people.
Kylian Mbappé came out grimacing and with the doctor.
Is it worrying?
CHRISTOPHR GALTIER
.
No, there is muscle fatigue but everywhere, it's not an alert on a very specific area.
It's linked to his match sequences.
The playing conditions were difficult, with a pitch that was difficult to play on.
And an opponent too who boldly played his luck and caused problems in the second half.
But there is no worry.
He also came out tired from his match in Turin on Wednesday.
It's a very busy schedule.
And there may be some apprehension.
Everyone is listening to their body in this pre-World Cup period.
It's the same for other internationals, especially players who have returned from injury like Nuno Mendes, Danilo.
You don't have to fight that.
We must accompany the players on the fact that they are recovering well and that they continue to train normally.
What exactly do you remember in this context?
The overall result or the small defects observed?
There were two periods.
The first really to our advantage.
We managed quite quickly to settle very high.
The ground was what it was.
Technically, when you are playing against a very, very tightly-knit defense and there is a ball which arrives more slowly or which jumps a little forward, well it is a little more difficult… But even with that we opened the scoring and had three or four opportunities to score a second goal.
In the second half, we quickly realized that we were disunited, that we were no longer able to chain our efforts and that we were winning a lot fewer duels.
We were penalized with a very nice goal.
But there was also a reaction to seek victory.
Did Lens' victory at Angers on Saturday night put any kind of pressure on you in the standings to stay in the lead?
You know when you are at PSG you want to be a leader, that's how it is.
I think we've had a very, very good run.
We have 38 points which is very good but you have a team like Lens which is also doing a very good job (Editor's note: 33 points).
There is no particular pressure.
I don't talk with my players about what the second or the third is doing.
There is what we have to do: win matches.
And make sure to give everything to win matches.
And today, in this sense, the players gave everything even if our second period was more than sluggish.
What prompted your decision to switch back to a 5-man defence?
First Lorient because they have two very tight lines of four, very compact inside.
When we are in another system we have a lot of people inside.
There I was convinced that it was necessary to go through the sides.
And make associations on the sides to put good balls in the box.
Then the sequence of matches.
When you have Lorient playing like that with a lot of verticality and transition, it takes a lot of effort in duels but also in deep defensive runs.
That's why we went back to a system that my players haven't forgotten since they've played about fifteen matches like that.
Neymar was again decisive.
A background noise suggests that he is preparing for the World Cup and that his post-World Cup will be another matter.
Do you have this fear?
Background noise comes from how your media presents it.
Me, every time I've been asked the question since the 4th of July, I say that he is there, omnipresent.
Today he made a lot of effort, he tried to close some gaps.
He prepares flawlessly.
Every day.
Afterwards, for what will happen after the World Cup, I don't know.
Obviously he is very motivated.
Like all our players.
We will see at the exit if there is a disappointment, if there is joy and euphoria.
But for me there is no reason for Ney not to perform well in the second half of the season.
What do you expect from the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League this Monday where you are bound to come across a big one?
Yes, we're going to run into a big one, but maybe a big one will run into a big one too.
I await this calmly.
We didn't finish first with incredible circumstances but that's how it is.
But the history of the Champions League shows that often seconds, on difficult draws, were able to qualify.
And there are a lot more than you think.
So here we are calmly waiting for the draw and when the time comes for the competition, we will prepare for it as best as possible to be efficient.