Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe scored two goals each, while Neymar found the net once in Paris Saint-Germain's 7-2 victory against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League clash on Tuesday. PSG boss Christophe Galtier heaped praises on the trio following this dominating win.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) boss Christophe Galtier heaped praises on the iconic trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe after the Ligue 1 champions registered an emphatic 7-2 win against Maccabi Haifa in their Champions League 2022-23 clash on Tuesday. Speaking to the media after the massive win at Parc des Princes, the Frenchman called them the 'Holy Grail' of striker partnerships in world football.
Messi needed just 19 minutes to fire PSG ahead, and French sensation Mbappe made it 2-0 with 32 minutes gone before Brazilian star Neymar joined the party to make it 3-0. Although Abdoulaye Seck pulled one back, the Argentinian legend's second sent the hosts into the break at 4-1. Seck doubled his tally five minutes after half-time, and the 23-year-old sensation netted his second in the 64th minute of the clash. Sean Goldberg's own goal made it 6-2 with 23 minutes remaining, and it was left to substitute Carlos Soler to complete the 7-2 rout.
PSG would relish this dominating win in front of their home crowd after having been first embroiled in the infamous 'penalty-gate' between Neymar and Mbappe and then the rumours of a January exit for January the 'unhappy' French star. Manager Galtier said, "We played fantastic football, there was a lot of connection between the lines, especially between the midfield and our three strikers who were fabulous."
"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," the PSG boss added.
"But it's very nice to train them, especially the front three. To have them every day in training, with yesterday's (Monday) 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…" Galtier concluded. PSG will be joined in the last 16 by Group H rivals Benfica after they edged a seven-goal thriller to dump Juventus out of the competition.