STATS Perform/dpaParis Neymar has roared back to form for Paris Saint-Germain after accepting he fell short of his high standards last season, according to coach Christophe Galtier.The Brazil star has been PSG’s outstanding forward, managing 10 goals and seven assists in eight starts and one substitute appearance so far.He is close to matching last season’s returns already, having scored a modest 13 times and assisted eight goals in 28 games during the 2021-22 campaign.It has been a return to the Neymar of his prime Barcelona days, and PSG are enjoying the benefits.“I think it would be disrespectful to think it is just down to me and my technical staff,” Galtier said. “Neymar has an awareness of the fact that his performances were not as good last season.“He has high targets. He came back fit at the start of pre-season. He worked very hard before that. My staff and I decided to play him in the best position to be an artist.“When Neymar is in a good state mentally and physically, that is what he does and that is how he performs well. The key thing to understand is that, as the coach, he is a player who works extremely hard for the team both going forward and in terms of winning the ball back.” Galtier’s team will play Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday in their second Champions League group game, having made a winning start last week against Juventus.The teams have only met twice before in European competition, with both of those games coming in the Cup Winners’ Cup first round in 1998-99. The side from Israel won 4-3 on aggregate but go into this rematch with few expecting them to get the better of star-studded opposition.Maccabi Haifa have lost each of their last seven Champions League games, going down by an aggregate score of 10-0.Only one team in the history of the Champions League have lost eight in a row while failing to score each time, with Dinamo Zagreb doing so between November 2015 and December 2016.For PSG, Kylian Mbappe has either scored or assisted in each of his last nine Champions League games (8 goals, 4 assists). He has found the net in each of his last five games, his longest scoring streak in the competition.As well as Mbappe and Neymar, PSG can also call on Lionel Messi, who is set to face Israeli competition for the first time in the Champions League. A goal in this game would make Messi the outright leader for the most different sides scored against by one player in the Champions League. He is currently on 38, level with Cristiano Ronaldo.
