A Paris SG deprived of its key players conceded a draw against the Austrians of Sturm Graz (2-2) for its first preparation match, Wednesday at the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, nine days before the resumption of Ligue 1. To begin his second season on the Parisian bench, Luis Enrique, who only recorded the return to training of the Euro internationals this week, had fielded a team made up of young players or players promised to play supporting roles.
Handing the captain’s armband to his fellow Spaniard Carlos Soler, who had been starving for playing time in the previous season, was an illustration of this. However, the Spaniard scored from a low cross from Randal Kolo Muani (12th), under pressure to finally live up to his transfer from Frankfurt last summer for almost 100 million euros.
And three minutes earlier, it was one of the young Parisian “titis”, Ibrahim Mbaye, 16, who opened the scoring from a tight angle, taking advantage of the poor positioning of the opposing goalkeeper. But PSG squandered their lead in the first half. Initially timid, the Austrians then worried PSG’s new Russian goalkeeper, Matvey Safonov, and his team several times.
Too messy in the game
To the point of reducing the score by Amady Camara who put the pressure on and forced the young Parisian defender Naoufel El Hannach into error (15). Then Otar Kiteishvili, left free, sent a powerful long-range shot into the small net opposite Safonov (44), whose debut was complicated.
Luis Enrique after Paris Saint-Germain’s draw against Sturm Graz in a friendly match, August 7, 2024
Credit: Getty Images
The exit due to injury of Brazilian defender Lucas Beraldo, in the 31st minute, further tarnished the first half, since PSG is anything but broad in this sector. Reason why it should recruit in the coming days the Ecuadorian William Pacho from Frankfurt, according to several media outlets. In the second half, a completely revamped Sturm Graz team caused Paris a lot of difficulty again. Luis Enrique launched for their first minutes in the Paris jersey the recruits of midfielders Joao Neves and Gabriel Moscardo, who were rather discreet.
The Parisian game was generally messy in the absence of an identified leader, despite the good will of Bradley Barcola in attack. At the same time, his former superstar Kylian Mbappé had his first training session with Real Madrid. Before its first Ligue 1 match on August 16 in Le Havre, PSG only has one more preparation match, Saturday in Leipzig (6:00 p.m.) against RB.
2024-08-07 18:59:00
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