His remark was fitting on the eve of Paris Saint-Germain’s first home match of the season, which lines up nicely with France’s rentrée, the term for the nationwide return to school and the office at the start of September. Although the new campaign is in full swing by now, the team have had to wait several weeks before making their return to the Parc des Princes, where they welcome second place Monaco on Friday night. The league champions were due to start the season by hosting Rennes on the first day, but successive heatwaves over the summer had damaged the Parc des Princes pitch to the extent that the match was instead moved to Brittany.
Rennes were also hoping to host the return match in March as scheduled, but the league authorities instead switched the two fixtures around in the calendar. This year’s rentrée has not exactly seen a swift return to business as usual for the perennial Ligue 1 champions. Since beating Aston Villa to retain the Uefa Super Cup last month, PSG have lost the Trophée des Champions to Lens and drawn their first two league matches.
Late comebacks in the latter two fixtures have helped paper over the cracks of unconvincing displays against the league’s middle powers. A late double from Ferran Torres on debut rescued a point against Rennes, while a Vitinha-led revival saw PSG claw back a similar deficit in stoppage time in Lille. A defeat to Monaco on Friday, though, could spark a minor crisis and precipitate the need for the team to be back at their full powers.
In any case, Luis Enrique was cryptic when asked about when his team would be at their best: “It depends on a lot of factors which are out of my control,” he said. It won’t be easy, especially considering they have a manager in Filipe Luís who takes a brave approach.” The Spaniard was also keen to stress the minor squad overhaul which took place over the summer. We’ll have to wait and see what they can bring.” While the starting XI that retained the Champions League title remains intact, Les Parisiens have replaced most of the supporting cast.
All of Gonçalo Ramos, Lee Kang-in, Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye have moved on, amounting to over €300m (£258m) in sales. Torres, Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts make up the reigning champions’ new frontline depth options, with Digne being the other senior arrival. For the head coach, the toughest departure to make up for will be Bradley Barcola’s.
The French international’s move, Luis Enrique explained, was a “special case”, given that he “grew a lot and helped the team grow” during his three years in the capital. It was his decision and we have to accept it, I wish him all the best.” The prospect of playing under Luis Enrique was seemingly the primary attraction for the summer arrivals, all of whom spoke to the press during Thursday’s open day at the club’s training ground. They are the only team in the league yet to drop points, and saw off Marseille last week with a double from the early-season breakout star Paris Brunner.
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