Ligue 1 Review | Luis Enrique has PSG purring ahead of Liverpool clash | OneFootball

“Everyone can see: we are a real team,” Luis Enrique said ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-1 victory over Lille OSC on Saturday evening. His comments touched on a theme that has cropped up repeatedly this season in soundbites from the capital; the idea that this iteration of Les Parisiens is different from the ones that came before.

It’s not hard to think why PSG might seem a little different. The club have made a concerted effort over the last three seasons to change the profile of player at the club. Gone are the days when Les Parisiens sought to coax the biggest names in football to Ligue 1, instead now there is a focus on targeting young (and often French) talent with high ceilings for growth.

At this point, it’s an approach that is still defined more by the players that have left rather than the ones that have arrived. The departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar in 2023, before Kylian Mbappé followed suit the summer after, have given a different feeling to the team. Fabián Ruiz summed it up in an interview with Movistar, “They left and now we don’t have any global stars, but we have a more united team.”

In search of an invincible season

The benefit of this new approach has been very clear: PSG are purring under Luis Enrique’s management. They are undefeated in the league after 24 games and have built a 13-point lead over Olympique de Marseille in second. And with only 10 games left, the question of whether they can become the first French team to complete a league season without tasting a defeat becomes louder.

Saturday’s visit from Lille looked as if it had the faint hallmarks of a banana skin to it. This season Bruno Génésio has sharpened his reputation as a giant killer, with Les Dogues felling Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, while also holding Juventus to a draw. However, any thoughts that there might be another upset in the making were quickly blown away.

PSG tore into Lille with surgical precision. The game was in truth over shortly before the referee blew the whistle for half time as Les Parisiens raced to an early four goal lead. In defence, PSG were similarly ruthless as they pressed relentlessly, giving their opposite numbers very little time to breathe. Lille could only muster a consolation from Jonathan David in the 80th minute.

PSG find their rhythm in time for Liverpool

There had been criticisms at the start of the season over PSG’s goalscoring prowess (particularly in the Champions League). However, since the start of January, the club have been in a rich run of form scoring 54 goals in 16 games, meaning they have already scored more than their first half of the season (51 goals) in seven fewer matches. All of this adds to the feeling that Luis Enrique’s squad are clicking at exactly the right time.

On Wednesday, they face their biggest challenge of the campaign when they host Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16. The English side have looked almost unassailable this season. They topped the league phase of the Champions League, suffering only one defeat in their final game, and have made short work of the Premier League, maintaining a 13-point gap at the top of the table.

Les Parisiens recognise the task at hand, but they also feel that if there is a good time to play Liverpool then perhaps it is now while they have found their groove. As Luis Enrique explained, “We’ll attack, we don’t feel inferior to Liverpool, it’s 50-50 and we’ll try and turn it to our favour.”

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

GFFN | Nick Hartland