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• Galtier concedes PSG hierarchy will 'reflect' on future after latest humiliating loss

  Christophe Galtier knows Paris Saint-Germain's hierarchy will "reflect" on his future after Sunday's dire defeat to Rennes, though he believes their display can be explained by a lengthy injury list.

  PSG were booed off at half-time and full-time by a furious home crowd as Karl Toko Ekambi and Arnaud Kalimuendo netted either side of the interval in a routine win for Rennes.

  PSG's defeat was their first on home soil in Ligue 1 since April 2021, when Galtier led former club Lille to a 1-0 triumph at the Parc des Princes before beating the Parisians to the title.

  While Galtier looks likely to win his second domestic title this term, he has attracted criticism since overseeing a meek Champions League exit against Bayern Munich earlier this month.

  Galtier knows PSG's latest humiliation will do nothing to quell speculation regarding his position, telling reporters: "I came for this project for two years, but we speculate on my future. 

  "My only obsession is to be champion. This match will perhaps cause my management to reflect, but we have to put things in context. 

  "This match should not call everything into question. There are no excuses but there are reasons. There are 10 matches left, we are ahead in Ligue 1. 

  "Losses always upset us. Afterwards, everyone has their reading of the game. You have yours and I have mine.

  "In the current context, with so many absences – though it is not an excuse – we knew that we would have defensive fluctuations."

  As well as long-term absentee Neymar, PSG were without defenders Achraf Hakimi, Presnel Kimpembe, Marquinhos and Sergio Ramos for Sunday's defeat, forcing Galtier to start inexperienced duo El Chadaille Bitshiabu and Timothee Pembele.

  Given PSG's selection crisis, Galtier believes criticism of his team's attitude is unjustified, adding: "The players gave everything compared to what they had in their legs. 

  "You get the feeling that the players didn't give their all, but that's not how I feel. 

  "When a player walks into the locker room and knows that eight players are missing, and he sees young guys he has only seen once or twice before... 

  "My players were invested, after going 2-0 down to a team like Rennes, there may be a little resignation. There is a lot of fatigue. These are not excuses, just contextual elements."

  PSG have now lost four of their seven Ligue 1 games this season against teams currently in the top five (W2 D1), including two against Rennes (also 1-0 in January).

  Rennes are also just the third team to complete a Ligue 1 double over PSG since the club's 2011 takeover by Qatar Sports Investments, after Nancy in 2011-12 and Monaco in 2020-21.

• Ten Hag hails Man Utd 'personality and determination' in Fulham comeback

  Erik ten Hag saluted Manchester United's "personality and determination" after they came from behind to beat nine-man Fulham 3-1 in a fiery FA Cup quarter-final.

  The Red Devils reached their record-breaking 31st semi-final, with Bruno Fernandes' brace and a Marcel Sabitzer strike cancelling out Aleksandar Mitrovic's opener at Old Trafford.

  The pendulum swung firmly in United's favour as the tie descended into chaos following Chris Kavanagh's decision to award the hosts a penalty 18 minutes from time.

  After consulting VAR, and red-carding Fulham boss Marco Silva for his protests, Kavanagh sent off Willian for handling Jadon Sancho's shot on the line, while Mitrovic followed for getting too physical with the official.

  United fully capitalised on their numerical advantage to book a semi-final date with Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley, where they landed the EFL Cup crown with victory over Newcastle United last month.

  "We are happy with the win. We showed great character," Ten Hag said. "Every time this team comes out, they show the personality and the determination needed. Fulham are a good team, and you have to be good to overcome them.

  "In possession, we could have been better. Out of possession, we were excellent. We came under pressure, gave away some set-pieces and then conceded the goal. David de Gea kept us in the game after we conceded."

  Sabitzer added: "We wanted to go back to Wembley, we did it. [At] 1-0 down, it was hard and tough, but we came back and won it. We were concentrated, focused until the end. I think it was a deserved win.

  "We have a great mentality. We have great players on the ball, but a great mentality and team spirit. I think you can see it on the pitch."

  Meanwhile, Luke Shaw believes Kavanagh was spot on with his decisions to award the penalty, and subsequently dismiss Willian and Mitrovic.

  "Obviously, I saw that moment and that action and to me straight away, I knew it was handball," he told MUTV. "I think the way he blocked it, the ball was going in, and it doesn't matter where his hands are.

  "It has hit his arms, and he's stopped it. The referee made a good decision with that one. I think maybe a bit of frustration [showed for Mitrovic's red card] after they'd been so good, maybe a bit of anger that can only take a second.

  "I think that happened and when they had two men sent off, it's a big mountain to climb, and thankfully we saw the game out."

• No complaints for Nagelsmann after 'sluggish' Bayern's 'deserved' defeat at Leverkusen

  Julian Nagelsmann felt his team deserved to lose after two Exequiel Palacios penalties condemned Bayern Munich to a 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at BayArena on Sunday.

  After title rivals Borussia Dortmund picked up three points on Saturday to move them top, a 22nd-minute deflected goal from Joshua Kimmich looked to have set Bayern on their way to retaking their position at the summit.

  But Palacios converted twice from the spot after the break, both for fouls on Amine Adli, to inflict a third league defeat of the season on Bayern and hand Dortmund the advantage ahead of the pair's table-topping Klassiker after the upcoming international break.

  Nagelsmann had no complaints with the defeat or the penalty decisions, both of which saw Adli initially handed a yellow card for diving until a VAR review intervened to award a spot-kick.

  "I saw relatively quickly that both are penalties," Nagelsmann told DAZN after the game. "They definitely weren't dives.

  "We deserved to lose. Except for the last ten minutes, we were the worse team. 

  "We did a lot on our own. A lot of pressing by ourselves, a lot of walking by ourselves."

  Nagelsmann blamed fatigue for the below-par display, which saw them lose a Bundesliga game after leading at half-time for the first time in 87 matches since a 3-1 defeat against Leverkusen in February 2019.

  "Today we were pretty sluggish overall," Nagelsmann added. "We won very few duels up front, but also in defence.

  "We have some exhausted players, so of course it was difficult. We were very weak in our game."

  Captain Thomas Muller agreed with his head coach that Bayern's efforts did not warrant anything out of the game, saying: "Leverkusen did very well today.

  "Unfortunately, we put very little of what has made us strong in the last few games onto the pitch.

  "Looking at the game as a whole, the defeat is unfortunately deserved today."

  Though some of his players are now set to jet off to their respective national teams, Nagelsmann's sights are set firmly on that crucial clash with Dortmund in just under two weeks.

  He is under no illusion of the importance of that fixture, explaining: "We definitely have to win [against Dortmund], otherwise it will be difficult to win the championship."