PSG were without nine first-team regulars for their trip to Nîmes in Ligue 1 on Friday. They still won 4-0
By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French
Football News
PSG were missing nine potential first-choice players for their trip to Nîmes on Friday evening (Mauro Icardi, Neymar, Marquinhos, Ángel Di María, Juan Bernat, Julian Draxler, Thilo Kehrer, Marco Verratti, Danilo Pereira) yet still cruised to a 4-0 win over Les Crocos in a bad-tempered affair. Admittedly, the hosts also had their share of absentees, with captain Anthony Briançon suspended and the sublime winger Zinedine Ferhat out with a hamstring injury, but it was still a potent reminder of PSG’s class. They remain a force with which to be reckoned.
Thomas Tuchel had to deal with a handful of departures this summer, including captain Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Thomas Meunier and Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting, the hero of their dramatic win over Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the
Champions League. Gone too are the promising youngsters Adil Aouchiche and Tanguy Kouassi – continuing a pattern of young academy talent leaving the club due to lack of playing time. Tuchel spared little ire for his sporting director, Leonardo, when his team, undermanned by Covid-19 and injuries, started the season with defeats to Marseille and Lens, before needing a 94th-minute winner against Metz to pick up their first points.