PSG win 3-1 over Le Mans but remain dependent on first-choice XI
On Saturday night in Ligue 1 Paris Saint-Germain beat newly promoted Le Mans 3-1 after Luis Enrique made four changes around the hour mark, a result the coach described as "typical".
PSG’s domestic fixtures have increasingly been treated as secondary to their continental campaign, with stars rested regularly and rotation used to manage minutes. Ousmane Dembélé started just 12 Ligue 1 games last season yet still won the player of the season award; he and Nuno Mendes were both absent from the teamsheet against Le Mans. The club spent more than €150m in the summer, but the arrivals have so far functioned largely as cover rather than as challengers to established starters.
Mika Godts, Maghnes Akliouche and Ferran Torres — who cost a combined €150m — started the match, while Dro Fernández and Lucas Beraldo were given midfield opportunities and Lucas Digne, Lucas Hernández and Illia Zabarnyi operated in defence. Beraldo converted a penalty to give PSG the lead midway through the first half before Louis Mafouta levelled with a first-time finish from a whipped cross. Luis Enrique praised Le Mans’ manager Patrick Videira for his work with the newly promoted side.
Around the hour mark PSG introduced Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Fabián Ruiz, Désiré Doué and Vitinha; Ruiz’s long-range effort was spilled and Kvaratskhelia scored two minutes after coming on. Akliouche, the only attacker retained through the mid-game changes, scored his first goal for PSG to seal the 3-1 victory. Four of PSG’s usual first-choice players were therefore required to finish the match.
The article notes PSG deployed more than €150m of summer spending without significantly altering the pecking order: the new signings have been used primarily to facilitate rest and "squad management" rather than to displace the starters. That approach leaves fringe players to step in on occasions but, according to the piece, those players have not been sufficiently pressed to force change in the hierarchy.
PSG have won their last three league games but the performances have not been convincing, and the departure of Bradley Barcola to Liverpool has increased pressure on Godts, Akliouche and Torres to push into the first team. The report says Torres produced his worst display in a PSG shirt against Le Mans, Godts has yet to find form since joining, and while Akliouche "surprised" Luis Enrique with his performance he remains inconsistent. PSG will probably make nine outfield changes for their Champions League match against Manchester City on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Marseille beat Troyes 2-0 to move out of the relegation zone after losing four of their first five Ligue 1 games and going into the international break second-bottom; goalkeeper Jeffrey De Lange admitted they "weren't good" in the win, Troyes missed two late chances and were only killed off by a 98th-minute penalty, leaving them in the bottom two. At Nice, Jonathan Clauss scored the winner as Nice beat Strasbourg 2-1; Dário Essugo, on loan from Chelsea, made his first start and scored his first goal for Strasbourg in that defeat, and the article says Hugo Oliveira is not meeting expectations amid a large summer influx of players.
The write-up concludes that the issues exposed by the Le Mans match "should not be a factor against Enzo Maresca’s side," while PSG prepare for their Champions League fixture against Manchester City on Wednesday.