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Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier defended Neymar after he was pictured out late playing poker and then in McDonald’s a day after their Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.
PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe said after the match that it was important that the players were “sleeping and eating well” to recover ahead of their Ligue 1 match against Lille on Sunday.
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However, Galtier was quick to shut down any association between Mbappe’s comments and Neymar’s actions after the Champions League tie.
“You can’t, and I’m not going to, associate Kylian’s statement, the words he had in the dressing room, with the picture of Ney in a fast food restaurant,” Galtier told a news conference on Friday.
“I have spoken to Ney. I told him what I thought. Ney has the right in his day of recovery, of rest — he is passionate about poker — he has the right to play poker.
“And then I told him what I thought about that picture that came out. And that’s between me and him. But I am convinced that there is no link between Kylian’s statement and the photo that came out.”
PSG will be hoping to put their midweek disappointment against Bayern behind them as they seek to end a run of three consecutive defeats in all competitions when they host in-form Lille.
The French champions have suffered three successive defeats in the same season for the first time since late 2011.
After the defeat to Bayern, Mbappe said he rushed himself back from injury to feature in the game and Galtier said the France international will play on Sunday.
“We have to win this weekend, and you have more chance to win when Kylian is there than without Kylian,” he added. “So Kylian will play.”
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.