Christophe Galtier is the new coach of Al-Duhail
After leaving Paris Saint-Germain this summer, French coach Christophe Galtier is the new coach of Al-Duhail, currently fourth in the Qatar Stars League.
It is a new adventure for Christophe Galtier in the Gulf, where he joins Marco Verratti, Julian Draxler and Abdou Diallo.
During his only season at Paris Saint-Germain, the French coach did not enjoy a quiet spell on the bench of the capital club, between sporting disappointment (elimination in the last 16 of the Champions League) and extra-sporting setbacks (the Ramadan affair, accusations of racism, etc.).
In spite of everything, he lifted a trophy with Kylian Mbappé’s side: the 11th Ligue 1 title, enabling PSG to claim the absolute record for most titles in the history of the French Championship, ahead of AS Saint-Etienne (10).
Since his departure, the 57-year-old coach has not disappeared from the radar, as his status as a free agent has brought him closer to a number of clubs looking for a coach, even though the season only began last August.
The first of these was Olympique de Marseille, who were looking for a successor to Marcelino, who left after just seven matches in all competitions. Although the name of the former Nice and Stephanois player had not been rejected by certain supporters’ groups – notably the Dodgers – the Olympic club finally set their sights on Gennaro Gattuso, after the native of Marseille refused.
And it is to Qatar that Christophe Galtier is moving, as he is to take charge of the Al-Duhail team, succeeding Argentinian Hernan Crespo: «Al Duhail Sports Club Management has completed the contracting procedures with French coach Christophe Galtier to take charge of the technical management of the first team, succeeding Argentinian coach Hernan Crespo.
Galtier, born in 1966, is regarded as one of the names that have left their mark on French clubs, having managed to win the League Cup title with Saint-Etienne, the League title with Lille, as well as the Champions Cup title with Paris Saint-Germain»
Fourth in the Qatar Stars League after five rounds and still in search of their first AFC Champions League win, Al-Duhail, the capital club of Doha and reigning Qatari champions, will take advantage of the Frenchman’s experience to achieve better results as the weeks go by. The former Parisian will be reunited with a number of familiar names in his new squad, including Philippe Coutinho (ex-Liverpool and Barça), Ibrahima Diallo – younger brother of Abdou, who has joined Al-Arabi SC – and Isaac Lihadji, who came through the ranks at OM and played for LOSC during the triumphant 2020-2021 season in which the Dogues finished French champions under Galtier.
