Christophe Galtier believes success in the Champions League should not define his ongoing project at Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG have been dominant force in France over the past decade, winning eight Ligue 1 titles while also capturing the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue on six occasions.
But the coveted Champions League crown has continued to elude Parisian giants, who came closest to landing it when they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the 2020 final.
PSG will face Bayern once more in the last 16 of this season's competition, but head coach Galtier thinks his future at the club should not depend on their performances in Europe.
"There are 10 teams that every season aim to win the Champions League, and only one achieves it," he told Marca. "And then, the other nine who have not succeeded, do we have to fire their coaches? No.
"It's very difficult to win the Champions League. I'm not looking to protect myself, but the big European clubs have this goal and don't change everything because they don't win it.
"There are several examples. Atletico [Madrid] reached the final twice and when they did not win, the club continued to believe in [Diego] Simeone and his sporting project. The same goes for Pep Guardiola. [Manchester City] haven't won yet, but the club still believes in their ideas.
"I think it would be a mistake to change PSG's sports project if the Champions League is not won. I think it's a process, obviously not a 10-year one, but what shouldn't be is that if we don't win this year, we change everything."
Despite being unbeaten in six matches, PSG only advanced to the knockout stages as group runners-up for a second successive season, as Benfica snatched top spot in Group H by virtue of scoring more away goals.
Galtier's side conceded seven goals - with only RB Leipzig (nine) and Eintracht Frankfurt (eight) shipping more against the teams that progressed to the last 16 - and the head coach insists they must tighten up to embark on a long run in the competition.
"We have conceded too many in the Champions League," he added. "Obviously, there is a difference in level between the Champions League and our championship. But if we want to go far in the Champions League, we must improve our defensive level.
"Nothing is easy in the Champions League. In addition, no one in the analysis has taken into account the difficulty of the calendar this season. It is the first time in the history of football with such a compact and difficult calendar.
"Practically every week, there were Champions League games. I think that's why some teams that normally made it past the group stage haven't. We have played in three and a half months what we normally played in four or five months."
St. Jago, Eltham, STATHS and Wolmer’s through to Walker Cup final four
St. Jago High, Eltham High, STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys all advanced to the semi-finals of the Walker Cup knockout tournament after quarter-final wins on Thursday.
St. Jago booked their spot in the last four after a 3-2 win over Calabar High at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
St. Jago took an early lead before Calabar equalized in the 45th minute through Kevaun Campbell. St. Jago retook the lead five minutes into the second half through Richardo Lewis before Seon Cato made it 3-1 in the 74th minute.
Calabar got a consolation goal through Sheldon Pusey eight minutes from full time but it wasn’t enough.
In the second game of the double header at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, Wolmer’s Boys got the better of St. George’s College 2-1.
Elsewhere, STATHS got a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlie Smith at Calabar to advance while Eltham beat Jonathan Grant 3-1 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to make it through.
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil: Super sub Segovia holds Selecao to shock draw
Substitute Telasco Segovia delivered the pivotal goal that saw 10-man Venezuela hold Brazil to a 1-1 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.
The shock result leaves Brazil in third place, trailing second-placed Colombia by two points and far short of Argentina in first.
Brazil opened the scoring just before half-time as Raphinha curled a delightful free-kick over the Venezuela wall from 20 yards out to break the deadlock.
On the other side of the break, however, half-time substitute Segovia equalised just 41 seconds after the restart, striking from outside the box, having run onto Jefferson Savarino’s short lay-off.
The visitors were provided with a prime opportunity to restore their lead when Rafael Romo fouled Vinicius Junior in the box. But the Real Madrid forward was unable to capitalise on the resulting penalty, seeing his initial effort saved before firing the rebound wide.
As tensions rose, the game delivered further drama as Alexander Gonzalez received his marching orders in the 89th minute for lashing out at Vinicius after fouling Gabriel Martinelli.
In a farcical ending to the lively affair, sprinklers popped up in the pitch in added time to delay proceedings, but neither side could find a way through.
Data Debrief: Instant impact for super sub Segovia
Segovia's goal, 41 seconds after coming on, is the fastest for a player coming off the bench in the last three editions of the South American World Cup Qualifiers.
Venezuela have now scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Brazil (four) and Colombia (four) have scored more in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Kelleher repays Ireland trust in Finland victory
Republic of Ireland winger Mikey Johnston said the team had always trusted Caoimhin Kelleher after he made a crucial penalty save in their 1-0 Nations League win over Finland.
Johnston's corner set up Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson for the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, after Finland had twice been denied by the woodwork.
The visitors had a golden chance to level in the second half, but Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Joel Pohjanpalo from 12 yards following a handball from Ferguson.
The result means Finland are relegated from Group B2, while Ireland must come through a play-off to remain in the competition's second tier.
Speaking after the game, Johnston credited Kelleher's all-important penalty save, saying: "I always trust him to go and save a penalty. He has reacted really well and stepped up in a big moment.
"We were aiming for the win. They had moments but there were a few chances we could have taken as well.
"We're happy that we've come away with the win. Sometimes in the last year we would have been on the other side of a bit of bad luck."
Ireland round off their campaign against England on Sunday, in Lee Carsley's final game in charge of the Three Lions before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins in January.
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