Christophe Galtier: ‘Unbalanced’ PSG cannot keep relying on Messi, Neymar and Mbappe

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Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were on target against Troyes, but Christophe Galtier was not happy that PSG conceded three times.

Christophe Galtier admits Paris Saint-Germain are lacking balance and cannot rely on their superstar forwards to bail them out after scraping a 4-3 victory over Troyes.

The two-time reigning Ligue 1 champions were held to goals by Mama Balde, who was either side of Carlos Soler’s equaliser, in Saturday’s encounter at the Parc des Princes.

But Lionel Messi scored a superb equalizer and then played in Neymar to give PSG the lead for the first time before Kylian Mbappe emphatically converted from the penalty spot.

There was still time for Ante Palaversa to pull one back, making Troyes the first team to score three or more goals at PSG in the league since Bordeaux in February 2020.

Instead of showing pride in PSG’s ability to defend and move five points clear at the summit, Galtier criticized his team’s defensive performance.

“The team was very uneven from the beginning,” Galtier told Amazon Prime. “Some players had trouble finding their level.

“We won very few balls high up the pitch and lost too many duels. Defensively we made too many mistakes and conceded again from a set piece.

“This is something we have to spend time fixing, something we have to put in the work. If we have to score four goals every time to win, it’s going to be complicated.”

“We got ahead because we were successful offensively, but we left ourselves wide open.”

PSG have scored 54 goals in 19 games in all competitions this season, with only Bayern Munich (69 in 20) bettered among teams in Europe’s top five leagues.

After beating Maccabi Haifa 7-2 in the Champions League in midweek, they have now conceded five goals in their last two games.

Midfielder Marco Verratti accepts the Parisians need to tighten up at the back if they are to challenge for trophies on multiple fronts this season.

“We defended poorly today. We can’t get three goals at home,” he said. “We have to find a better balance of our game.

The last 25 goals PSG have netted in all competitions have been scored or assisted by Messi, Neymar and Mbappe in a streak stretching back to September 3.

Galtier fielded all three of his superstar trio for the full game against Troyes – a decision the Frenchman defended after his side’s 19th game unbeaten run since taking charge.

“They had to stay until the end if we wanted to win,” he said. “If the score was different, with the team a couple of goals ahead, we could have done more.

“In addition, we know that Neymar will not play on Wednesday [against Juventus] due to suspension. Today we knew that we would have to maintain our attacking power to score goals.”

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