Kylian Mbappe sparked fears over his fitness after limping off against Montpellier, but Christophe Galtier eased those concerns.
Kylian Mbappe’s injury “does not seem very serious”, Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier has revealed after the forward limped off against Montpellier.
With Neymar already ruled out of the Ligue 1 match with muscle fatigue, Mbappe was forced off in the 21st minute of PSG’s 3-1 win on Tuesday, clutching his hamstring as he walked straight down the tunnel.
The striker’s injury came after he missed a penalty, as did his replay for a tackle against Montpellier, although his side won the game thanks to goals from Lionel Messi, Fabian Ruiz and 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery.
But with Sergio Ramos also injured in the first half, there were major concerns over the availability of some players after the game, with PSG’s first Champions League tie for 16 years with Bayern Munich less than two weeks away.
Galtier played down injury concerns for Mbappe and Ramos, telling reporters at his post-match press conference: “It doesn’t seem too serious, for one as much as for the other.
“We’ll see. They’re obviously two important players. From what we saw at half-time and what we said, there’s not too much to worry about.”
“Kylian got hit behind the knee and on the muscle. It’s a contusion, a hematoma. We don’t know yet. We’d rather not take any chances with that sequence of matches.
“Sergio injured his adductor in the fall. We don’t think it’s serious. He preferred to get off and not risk the discomfort.”
Despite PSG winning Ligue 1 last season, head coach Mauricio Pochettino was relieved of his duties after failing to deliver the club’s first Champions League.
Galtier is trying to avoid the same fate, though he says he expected the pressure before taking the job.
“Yes, automatically when you sign for PSG you have an obligation to win,” he said.
“The Champions League requires you to be ready. We have players coming back and we’ve just had the World Cup. I knew there was pressure before I arrived.
PSG missed out on a deadline day move for Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea after the Premier League club reportedly made a mistake with the necessary paperwork.
When asked if he was disappointed not to bring in Ziyech, Galtier replied: “You know that. We wanted to replace the departure of Pablo Sarabio.
“Unfortunately it didn’t happen, but it’s the peculiarities of the transfer window – you have to accept it.”
