Christophe Galtier claims Mbappe was like an 'Orphan' without Messi and Neymar in Reims draw

Paris Saint-Germain fielded a starting XI without Lionel Messi and Neymar in their Ligue 1 fixture against Reims on Saturday evening.

However, the defending champions struggled to create clear goalscoring chances in what could have been a straightforward encounter, up until the 41st-minute when a red card was shown to Sergio Ramos for seemingly protesting against the referee.

After the sending-off of Ramos, the game required a decisive bit of play from one of PSG’s talismans to break the deadlock.

In Messi and Neymar's absence in the first period, the visitors relied on Kylian Mbappe, Carlos Soler, and Pablo Sarabia to get the goals.

Mbappe had a poor game in PSG's draw with Rennes on Saturday in Ligue 1 Twitter

However, the trio was unable to do so, even with Neymar, after coming on as a second-half substitute.

The Brazilian attacker failed to really trouble the Reims defence and Kylian Mbappé himself just managed one shot on target as the 10-men PSG secured a 0-0 draw in their away trip to the Stade Auguste-Delaune.

Galtier speaks on Mbappe's struggles following Reims draw

Elaborating on the visitor's lack of scoring chances against the 14th-placed team in the league, PSG manager Christophe Galtier was quoted to have said in his post-match conference:

PSG boss Christophe Galtier AFP

“Kylian Mbappé was a bit like an orphan without Leo and Ney, as I suspected. I thought that might change as the game went on. Ney didn’t start the match because he has played a lot recently.

"Obviously, when he came on, we saw how good a relationship they have and that is why our second-half performance was better despite us being down to 10 men.” via L’Équipe.

Mbappe deletes 'controversial' post on Instagram after Reims stalemate

Mbappe himself had taken to Instagram to make a controversial post after the draw.

The post which has now been deleted has also drawn criticisms from fans on social media.

The 23-year-old French superstar had a stinker of game on Saturday and would no doubt be looking to remind fans of his class on Tuesday night when they welcome Benfica to the Parc de Princes having played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture last week.