Christophe Galtier: "We'll have to start the game well"

ON THE WIN OVER MACCABI HAIFA

"I've spoken to the players a lot in the last few days, both individually and collectively. I've told them that we need to be careful; we put in a good performance against Maccabi Haifa, but we can't let our foot off the gas. We've had short but very intense training sessions, and we're making sure that we maintain a high standard after Tuesday's win. We're in an interesting period of the season. From now on, good performances need to bring about more good performances. What I want to put right above all is the way in which we start the second halves of games."

oN troyes

"For this game and the ones after it, we'll have to bring in fresh blood to keep up what has been a good run so far. Troyes are a very creative team that are nice to watch and that like to build out from the back. That's the mindset of their coach, Bruno Irles, and I don't think that he'll change that, as he has a real philosophy. They focus on their own style of play and on the way in which they can destabilise their opponents. We'll need to be ready. We know that they've won twice away from home this season, against Clermont and Monaco, which is an achievement. We'll have to start the game well; that will be important."

ON HIS team's SYSTEM AND BUILD-UP PLAY

"Against Haifa, we played in a system with four defenders, three midfielders and a specific kind of build-up play to match the movement of our three attackers. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a shape where you can see a midfield diamond when Lionel Messi or Neymar Jr drop centrally. We don't play specifically in a 4-3-3 system, as that would require our wingers to defend on the flanks when we know that they prefer to defend centrally.

"Regarding our full-backs and particularly Achraf Hakimi, we've thought about how we can free up the wings as much as possible. So, we leant towards a system with central build-up play and wing-backs positioned high up the pitch, and we relied on a central, three-man defence. However, we realised that with the games coming thick and fast, our full-backs were getting more and more tired. It's a system that takes a lot of energy out of them, as they have to do a considerable amount of high-intensity running, sometimes from very deep starting positions.

"We then signed midfielders who are particularly fond of the middle of the park, be it Renato Sanches, Fabián Ruiz or Carlos Soler, and started to think about how we could enjoy better control of the play whilst also making things easy for our three attacking players."

ON kimpembe

"Presnel Kimpembe has come back in great shape. We're being careful because he's coming back from a long time out of action. Initially, I thought that he'd be available for the game against AC Ajaccio, but we realised that he still needed a few more training sessions. Today, we can safely say that he's ready to start a game. Presnel was worried when he got injured, and that's normal. Mentally, it was difficult for him at the start. Then, when he returned to the pitch and started running again, I saw a very focused and motivated player. He's listened to his body to avoid cutting corners. I think that it would've been a huge mistake to bring him back too soon, so I trusted my medical staff and spoke to Presnel to get his feelings. He's an important player for Paris Saint-Germain, and he's also our only left-footed centre-back."

ON CENTRAL DEFENCE

"Obviously, Kimpembe's return is making us think about a potential return to a five-man defence. In that case, we would have to think about setting up a different way of playing to the one that we put in place at the start of the season. This is Paris, so it's normal that there's healthy competition between elite players.

"We have three specific players who can play in a three-man central defence: Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos and Kimpembe. Nordi Mukiele can also play there, but we need him on the right. Danilo has also helped out there to good effect. Incidentally, I'm hoping to be able to count on him against Juventus. We've noticed that Ramos has spent the majority of his career as a left-sided centre-back and that Marquinhos can also play there. Kimpembe is different, as he's left-footed. All of that means that I have choices to make, but they're easy choices given the high standard of each player."

ON THE squad rotation

"Each player's level of tiredness is what helps me to decide whether to tinker with the team or not. Our three attackers have performed very well recently, so when there's a dynamic and a harmony like this, we avoid breaking it up. Generally, we try to keep it going. We also need to take into account the reality of the game: we need to beat Troyes. That said, we've also got a big game coming up in Turin, so we'll probably adjust things depending on how tomorrow's game goes."

ON ekitike

"I had a long discussion with Hugo last week. Of course, he can't be happy with the amount of game time he's had so far this season. I told him that we both had a share of the responsibility. When you've got an attacking trio like we do, it requires a lot of investment and resilience from our other strikers. As soon as you play in place of one of those three, you're systematically compared to world-class players.

"I explained my choices to him. He's a talented player who needs to make up for his lack of competitive game time with hard work in training. He needs to be visible when he comes into games, but recently, he'd maybe lost some of that confidence. Against Haifa, he did pretty well when he came on. I've asked the coaching staff to play a lot of attention to his workload so that he can gradually get more game time.

Christophe Galtier'S FULL PRESS CONFERENCE