“We aren’t boxing in the same category,” said the Reims manager, Samba Diawara, after his team were beaten 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France final on Saturday. In truth, few opponents have been worthy of sharing the ring with PSG this season. Domestically at least, they have been peerless. The only concern is that their domination may have broken their rhythm in the final weeks of the season. By the time PSG face Inter in the Champions League final, it will have been 57 days since they wrapped up their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title.
Since they clinched the title with an unspectacular 1-0 win over Angers, the stakes have been low in Ligue 1, especially after a surprising defeat to Nice in late April ended their chances of an invincible campaign. “Records aren’t our primary objective, titles are,” said Luis Enrique, who roused his troops for Champions League ties against Aston Villa and Arsenal. Doing it again in Munich will be a tougher task.
That second-leg win over Arsenal marked the start of the holidays for some in the squad. Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Fabián Ruiz and Vitinha were given almost a week off. “Rest is very important,” said Luis Enrique, who accords a great level of importance to the mental aspect of management. “Every player has a personal plan.” That plan has meant some of the pillars of PSG’s success featured sparingly in recent weeks.
Donnarumma has played once in the past three weeks, with Matvei Safonov preferred in goal for the Coupe de France final. Ousmane Dembélé did start against Reims but it was his first full 90 minutes since 15 April. Unlike Bradley Barcola, whose quickfire double early in the first half killed the game, Dembélé looked out of rhythm. The Frenchman, touted as a frontrunner in the race for the Ballon d’Or, has scored 25 goals in 2025 but only three of them have come in the past two months. His wastefulness was reminiscent of the old Dembélé, the one who dazzled and frustrated in equal measure.
The policy to rest key members has naturally come under scrutiny. A former member of PSG’s medical staff said that giving players a break was a “bad idea, strictly from a physical standpoint”. He added: “For players who are used to playing every three days, stopping for almost a week is like turning off the engine. You then lose a lot of time when they come back to get the machine going again.”
That said, Ruiz and Hakimi showed no signs of rust in the Coupe de France final, with the latter getting on the scoresheet. But drawing any conclusions from a match against Reims feels difficult. L’Équipe’s front page on the day of the game read: “A Funny Final”. PSG had one eye on their date with destiny in Munich, even if Luis Enrique pushed back on the notion. “It isn’t difficult to motivate oneself,” he said. There won’t be any players thinking about the next final.”
Diawara was more open about the distractions facing his club. “If any player isn’t at 100%, he will be rested,” he said. “It is clear that, more than anything, we want to stay in Ligue 1.” The cup final was sandwiched between more important games – two legs of a relegation playoff against the Ligue 2 side Metz. UReims came off second best in that encounter, losing the second leg and going down 4-2 on aggregate.
Reims had posed PSG problems this season, fighting for a draw in both league meetings, but resistance last Saturday was feeble. The “two finals” discourse spouted by Luis Enrique put the matches against Reims and Inter almost on a level footing, but the Stade de France felt like a warmup act. PSG’s games since their victory over Arsenal – comfortable wins over Montpellier, Auxerre and Reims – have not tested them. There has been almost an ambivalence to their matches, particularly in Ligue 1. That is not their fault, but the contrast with Inter is stark.
Luis Enrique has cut a serene figure for several weeks. All the while, an agitated Simone Inzaghi has presided over a Serie A title race with Napoli that went to the final day of the season. His tensions boiled over as he and his managerial counterpart, Marco Baroni, were sent to the stands during the defining 2-2 draw against Lazio on the penultimate weekend of the campaign. That allowed Napoli to wrap up the title a week later. Inter have not performed at their best in recent weeks, but intensity and pressure have not been lacking; Luis Enrique has had to conjure those conditions artificially.
“You have seen a bit of our training, how we prepare, how intense it is,” said the club captain, Marquinhos after journalists were invited to the training ground for a glimpse of Luis Enrique’s methods. The Spaniard was on a platform high above the pitch, directing the session. “When you only have one match per week, it is normal to have intense sessions – we make sure that the session represents a match,” said the PSG manager.
Replicating those conditions physically is the easy part, especially given the strength in depth in the squad, but replicating the pressure, nerves and expectation is impossible. PSG have not been put through that emotional wringer for several weeks, unlike their opponents.
Such pressure will be new to almost every player in this PSG squad. Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe are the only ones remaining from the team that reached the Champions League final in 2020. Being the youngest squad in this year’s competition is worn like a badge of honour at PSG, but it means they are foraying into the unknown at the Allianz Arena. Eight of the 11 starters for Inter against Manchester City in the final two years ago are still at the club. Inter’s players, unlike PSG’s, are in a familiar position.
But there is no sense of unfamiliarity for Luis Enrique,. His decision to give key players leave is a risk taken within a peculiar context by a man who has already lifted the trophy with Barcelona. Come full-time on Saturday night, PSG’s preparations will be deemed sub-optimal or idyllic. Either way, they certainly won’t be inconsequential.
This is an article by Get French Football News
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