Following their recent Ligue 1 encounter against Paris FC on Sunday evening, which resulted in a 2-1 defeat, Paris Saint-Germain now embarks on a crucial 12-day period devoid of official fixtures. This interval leads directly to their highly anticipated Champions League final showdown against Arsenal. However, an important friendly fixture is already scheduled for the upcoming weekend to maintain match readiness.
“The first thing we must do is adapt to the calendar,” emphasized coach Luis Enrique during a press conference this past Saturday, just before the final Ligue 1 match against local rivals Paris FC. Having already secured the French championship, Paris Saint-Germain made the short journey to Stade Jean-Bouin on Sunday with the clear objective of “preparing for the Champions League final” against Arsenal, set for May 30th in Budapest, Hungary.
Nevertheless, the reigning European champions did not deliver the performance their coach had hoped for, ultimately falling 2-1. A visibly “disappointed” Luis Enrique admitted he found “nothing positive from that match. When you play football without ambition and intensity, these are the logical outcomes.”
“A more challenging end to the season”
Currently, the Parisian squad faces a 12-day stretch without any competitive fixtures leading up to the momentous European final. This scenario presents a notable deviation from last season’s schedule, where they contested the Coupe de France final against Reims (a 3-0 victory) just a week prior to their trip to Munich and the emphatic 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan.
“This is a more complicated end to the season than usual,” the Spanish tactician affirmed during his press briefing. “Last year, we had the Coupe de France final, which was incredibly motivating for us. However, we now have two weeks remaining to prepare for what will be the most significant match in our history.”
A comprehensive program is now taking shape for the squad. “We will cover everything: physical and mental rest, and then we will play a friendly match” next weekend “to increase our football load,” Luis Enrique detailed. Close attention will be paid to updates regarding Ousmane Dembélé’s injury, who exited Sunday evening’s game as a precaution within the first half-hour. Additionally, the potential full training returns of Willian Pacho, Nunos Mendes, Achraf Hakimi, and Quentin Ndjantou, all of whom resumed individual training on Saturday, are keenly awaited.
For last year’s final, the PSG players and staff departed for Munich on the Friday morning, the day before the match, to conduct their final training session at the Allianz Arena in the early evening.