Luis Enrique quickly understood. Coach of PSG since August 2023, he lost the following match after the first international break, a Paris-Nice on September 15, 2023. Since then, the four breaks in the calendar devoted to the selections have been tackled much better in the championship, with four victories including one last March at the Vélodrome stadium against Marseille (0-2, March 31, 2024), or the last against Brest on September 14 at the Parc des Princes (3-1).
Against the Aiglons a year ago, the Asturian coach insisted at kick-off with fresh players, for example lining up the French substitutes during the friendly match in Germany – Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Lucas Hernandez – and blowing a tricolor holder – Randal Kolo Muani. The Bondyn striker, who has just made two starts with the Blues (Israel, Belgium) with a double at the Roi Baudoin stadium (1-2), is warned and knows a priori what awaits him this Saturday against Strasbourg at the occasion of the 8th day (9 p.m.) even if it could benefit, basically, from the upcoming calendar. Also in September 2023, Marquinhos and Manuel Ugarte, then Parisian, also watched the meeting from the bench, returning late from South America.
No injuries during the truce
The last Internationals, like the Ecuadorian Willian Pacho, the South Korean Kang-In Lee, the Moroccan or the Portuguese Vitinha, João Neves and Nuno Mendes, were due to return this Wednesday afternoon to the capital while their club had scheduled a meeting at 5 p.m. A priori, with no known ailments, good news for Paris. They will have more hours of recovery than during this defeat in the championship, PSG-Nice having been scheduled for a Friday evening while Germany-France took place on a Tuesday. Five days this time for the Blues compared to three days last year, which changes everything for the organizations. Above all, this is the second break at a time of the season when the physical condition of the players is much better, allowing them to continue more easily.
At the Poissy Campus, time must have seemed long to Marco Asensio, the only potential starter remaining here during this sequence of Nations League or qualifiers (World Cup, CAN). Not all those summoned were requested. Gianluigi Donnarumma and Vitinha only played one out of two matches while Lucas Beraldo (Brazil), Warren Zaire-Emery (France), João Neves (Portugal) did not start either of the two international outings on the program. They need to be relaunched just like Asensio this Saturday even if Paris can only start with fresh men. Luis Enrique will have to shape a starting eleven against Strasbourg which takes into account all this data: the number of minutes played, how many kilometers from Paris (plane time), the number of matches of the season and the upcoming menu.
For the moment, Willian Pacho and Achraf Hakimi, with 747 and 714 minutes respectively, have been the most used in all competitions among outfield players compared to 393 minutes for Fabian Ruiz, one of the pillars of the last Ligue 1 campaign. champions of Paris. It’s a safe bet that the first two blow this Saturday against Strasbourg because a three-game week returns to the calendar. After Ligue 1 this Saturday, PSG continues this Tuesday with the reception of PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and a trip to Marseille on Sunday. Suffice to say that the next two meetings count for more than the arrival of the Alsatians even if they occupy a surprising 7th place in the championship and remain with good results. They have, so far, only lost once in L 1, on August 30 in Lyon (4-3).
The probable composition against Strasbourg: Donnarumma – Zaïre-Emery, Marquinhos, Beraldo, Nuno Mendes – Ruiz, Neves, Kang-In Lee – Doué, Asensio, Kolo Muani.
