Paris Saint-Germain finally announced the departure of Mauricio Pochettino in the midst of disappointment over the constant failures in Champions League. Although she talked about Zinedine Zidane As the perfect replacement, the board’s decision ended up surprising locals and strangers.
Christophe Galtier He was chosen to command the Parisian squad for the next two seasons. The new coach arrives after very good presentations in the Ligue 1 con Lille and Nice.
Galtier, 55, was a defender in his time as an active footballer and spent almost his entire career in French football. Once he retired, he had an extensive career as a technical assistant, until in 2009 he took over as Saint-Etienne’s strategist.
Precisely one of his most remembered anecdotes occurred on April 7, 2000, when he was a technical assistant at Olympique Marseille and on his way to the locker room he got into a “bare fist” fight with Marcelo Gallardo, then an AS Monaco midfielder.
Once the first 45 minutes of the duel were over, both teams left for the dressing rooms. At that moment, Galtier went to rebuke the ‘Muñeco’ for a punctual play and all hell broke loose.
The Olé newspaper recovered a fragment of the book ‘Gallardo Monumental’ in which the now River Plate DT talks about the subject:
“The first half ended and we went into the tunnel. At that time it was not customary to go out all together. And here comes the ambush. At the tunnel door there were some guys from private security… I was one of the last to enter and when I got in I noticed that the security guards had cut off the entrance to the tunnel. Inside was Galtier waiting for me. He spoke to me a little in Spanish, kind of grabbed me by the hair, I made a fool of myself and got rid of him. I just see that he is going to throw a pineapple and I elbow him in the middle of the face. There a security guy grabbed me from behind, with an arm around my neck, Marseille players came and started hitting me from the front without stopping… I don’t know, it must have been about 15, 20 seconds that they kicked me and kicked me from everyone sides”.
As expected, Gallardo and Galtier were expelled by the central judge. Of course, the worst part was taken by the Argentine, because that night he ended up receiving medical attention in a hospital for injuries to his face and body.
In the end, the Monegasque team and the “Muñeco” filed a complaint for aggression, something that was severely criticized by the local press and even the French government. Likewise, the league ended up giving the affected person a sanction date, while Galtier was away from the field for six months.