PSG have never considered sacking Tuchel – Leonardo

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has sought to quell speculation that head coach Thomas Tuchel finds himself under threat of losing his job.

The Parisians may top Ligue 1 but have made a slow start to their Champions League challenge, with disappointing defeats at home to Manchester United and away to RB Leipzig.

With the relationship between the two men strained, it seemed that the prospects of Tuchel, who has admitted he has not been offered a new deal, lasting to the end of the season were limited.

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Not so, according to Leonardo, who shunned suggestions that the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Massimiliano Allegri might have been contacted over the role.

‘The club must support Thomas Tuchel’

“Internally, we’ve never thought of changing Tuchel,” he said. “We’ve not called anyone, the club has never put a coach on the table to replace Tuchel. It’s the precisely the opposite. Now is the time to be focussed on our goals, to be united.

“The club must support Tuchel. We’ve talked with him about his media handling. We didn’t like [his criticism of the transfer window] being public.

“We spoke among ourselves and these are things that happen. The situation is clear for everyone.

“It would be stranger not to have these discussions.”

The international recess has put the brakes on PSG’s domestic momentum, which has seen them win eight successive league matches, but they have suffered two defeats in the Champions League group stages for the first time since they were taken over by QSI in 2011.

Their next match is a trip to Monaco on November 20 and that is followed up by a critical home match against Leipzig in Europe. Should Tuchel’s men suffer another loss, the pressure will further ratchet up on the former Borussia Dortmund boss, who has been in charge of the side since replacing Unai Emery in the summer of 2018.