Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel said Tuesday he was "sad but not worried" by tensions between France and Turkey ahead of their Champions League match against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led the charge against his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during an escalating war of words in a row over the freedom to mock religion.
Macron has robustly defended the right to free expression, including to mock religion, amid revulsion in France over the beheading of a schoolteacher who had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
PSG picked up their first points of the group stage against Basaksehir with a 2-0 win, courtesy a brace from Moise Kean, following a 2-1 loss to Manchester United last week.
Tuchel insisted the main focus for his side was kickstarting their European campaign despite the diplomatic friction surrounding the tie.
Defender Presnel Kimpembe said the issue of strained relations between the two countries was beyond their remit.
