Christophe Galtier says working with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is the “Holy Grail” of coaching after the trio combined to devastating effect in Paris Saint-Germain’s win over Maccabi Haifa.
PSG thrashed Haifa 7-2 to secure their place in the last-16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night. Messi and Mbappe both scored twice, with Neymar also finding the back of the net alongside Carlos Soler and an own goal from Sean Goldberg.
It was a stunning performance from the French giants, whose all-star front three were on scintillating form, tearing the away side’s defence to pieces time and time again. Messi ended the night with two new records, but could not complete a ninth Champions League hat-trick which would have taken him one clear of Cristiano Ronaldo in the competition.
Galtier took over the reins from Mauricio Pochettino in the summer and is enjoying the experience of managing three of the modern game’s greatest players. “It’s very nice to train them, especially the front three,” he said post-match.
“To have them every day in training, with yesterday’s morning session, which was of an exceptional level, and on top of that to see them express themselves like that, for a coach, it’s the Holy Grail.”
PSG were 3-0 up inside 35 minutes at the Parc des Princes, with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe all getting on the score sheet in real style. Messi opened the scoring with an outside-of-the-boot effort, Mbappe curled into the top corner and Neymar dinked in off the inside of the post.
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Abdoulaye Seck headed in twice from set pieces to give Haifa a glimmer of hope, but it proved fleeting. Messi smashed into the bottom corner from the edge of the box for his second before Mbappe found the top corner once more with a curling effort.
Goldberg then turned Neymar’s cross into his own net before Soler completed the scoring from Messi’s cut-back. With one match to play, PSG sit top of Group H, level on points with Benfica, who beat Juventus 4-3 to knock the Italian side out and secure their own progression.
“We played fantastic football, there was a lot of connection between the lines, especially between the midfield and our three strikers who were fabulous,” Galtier said. “There was a great connection between them. When everyone plays for the team, it gives a very good image.
“We had to find a system and complementarities so that they could express themselves more freely. Their technical quality and their relationship in small spaces, as well as the fact that they defend more densely, allow us to have more rapid transitions. When one of the three goes off with the ball, it just plays for each other and it’s obviously very nice to see.”
