PARIS: Paris St-Germain have parted company with coach Mauricio Pochettino, the French champions confirmed on Tuesday, and replaced him with Christophe Galtier who pipped the Argentine and PSG to the 2021 Ligue 1 title when in charge of Lille.

Galtier is PSG’s seventh coach since the Qataris bought the club 11 years ago and will be expected to finally lift the Champions League trophy.

“Yes, I am emotional, yes I am proud,” said Galtier at a press conference on Tuesday.

“I am fully aware of the responsibility placed on me, that PSG had a huge season.

“I have prepared myself for this.

“If I have accepted these responsibilities, it is because I feel I am capable.” The club had earlier issued a short statement confirming what had been widely-touted for weeks — the departure of Pochettino with a year remaining on his contract.

“Paris St-Germain confirm that Mauricio Pochettino has ended his role at the club,” said a club statement as the former Tottenham Hotspur coach left the Parc des Princes after 18 months in charge. “The club would like to thank Mauricio Pochettino and his staff for their work and wish them the best for the future,” added PSG’s statement.

Pochettino and his backroom staff depart having won the Ligue 1 title last season but despite having a star-studded squad at his disposal at PSG, with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi leading the attack, the Parisian club failed to win the other domestic trophies on offer and was better remembered for a disappointing exit from the Champions League in the last 16 at the hands of Real Madrid.

Pochettino leaves PSG after 84 competitive games in charge, having won 55, drawn 15 and lost 14.

Galtier, who left Nice last month, has developed a reputation as the leading coach in the French club game over the last decade.

He enjoyed eight successful years at St-Etienne, where he won the League Cup in 2013, before a four-year stint at Lille was crowned with the Ligue 1 title in 2021, when they pipped PSG.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2022