Two rooms, two atmospheres. After a spectacular recovery in the second half of last season, OL, seventh and not qualified for Europe, experienced a tormented summer (DNCG, Aulas / Textor bickering) and a cataclysmic start to the 2023-24 campaign. Two defeats to start (Strasbourg, Montpellier) and a draw “not reassuring in terms of play” – according to Laurent Blanc – last week in Nice (1-1). “We started the season very badly, we are not going to say the opposite”, loose the 57-year-old Cévennes technician, recently reframed by John Textor and necessarily “under pressure”. Issue ? PSG “may not be the best team to revive”, as the former national coach agrees, demanding “game” from his players, not “to be afraid to play” before facing the armada of Luis Enrique, who remains “on a very good performance against Lens (3-1). With their individualities, if they manage to find team cohesion, it can hurt a lot, ”analyzes coach Blanc again.
All this knowing well that the current context and the squabble between the current president and his predecessor “does not help to have a climate of serenity. “We try to solve our sporting problems on the ground, where we can express ourselves,” says the former coach … of PSG (2013-16). It will go through fewer “individual errors”, but above all through the idea of ”developing the game against a team that will try to leave the ball as little as possible”. “I hope we will find the idea, the determination and the desire to play, which will already allow us to have a good match against this team. If this is not the case, you still have very little chance of achieving a result against a team of the caliber of PSG”, slips Laurent Blanc.
Mission impossible, knowing that the Gones will have to do without Dejan Lovren (recovery), Diego Moreira and Paul Akouokou (unqualified) and especially Alexandre Lacazette (suspended)? Good news, with the return to the group of Clinton Mata and Anthony Lopes, the latter however not yet being certain of being able to play. The neo-Lyonnais Ernest Nuamah and Mama Baldé will be there. Two reinforcements that will bring speed and percussion, but also and above all competition and emulation within a group that really needs it.
The Lyonnais coach can however rely on the fact that the Gones have often made the Parisian ogre falter at Groupama Stadium in recent years. Above all, OL won in the last confrontation between the two teams. It was April 2, at the Parc des Princes. Victory 1-0 on a goal from the so-called Bradley Barcola. Except that the person concerned will be, this time, in the opposite camp. PSG indeed stole it on the eve of the closing of the transfer market for 50 M €, bonus included. One of the 11 recruits of a Paris-SG passed in a “new era”, according to Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. New training center, new faces, new style… The club from the capital has indeed undergone a significant transformation during the off-season, after a cataclysmic 2022-23 campaign. Symbol of this revival? Manuel Ugarte, tireless machine to recover balloons in the middle, an example of activity and appetite for work in the shadows. Everything that was missing in Paris so far in fact.
The building is still fragile, but the promises are enticing. Promises that will quickly have to be confirmed on the field with the program that awaits the Red and Blue in the Champions League (Dortmund, Milan, Newcastle). “It’s good news”, assures the Qatari president of Paris-SG, adding that “it will force everyone to be ready”. Not false. In the meantime, all the lights are green. Apart from Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes, Kang-in Lee and Nordi Mukiele, “Lucho” can count on all his vital forces, including Barcola. Forfeited against the Sang et Or, the Portuguese Gonçalo Ramos is fit. However, it will still be necessary to wait before seeing Randal Kolo Muani at work. The ex-Nantais is hit in the ankle.
The Spanish coach nevertheless has what it takes to face OL, after an “excellent transfer window”. “All my expectations were met,” he savors. Not sure that Laurent Blanc can say the same… The two men know each other well: they played together at FC Barcelona in the late 90s (33 matches together).
All lights green for Paris? Luis Enrique wants to be suspicious. “It’s a match that I prepared like all the others, with the utmost seriousness, the greatest professionalism. My role is to help the team get out of it as well as possible, he stresses. OL is a big club, a historic club, one of the best in L1 and which has very good players and a very good coach. We are going to play in a very nice stadium, a very nice atmosphere, we always like that. I expect a difficult match but we prepared well to take the three points.
In any case, we should not expect a revolution in the game of Paris Saint-Germain compared to what we have seen since the start of the season. “We always prepare according to us, says the former Spanish coach. I am looking for maximum possession on our side but there are also phases of play without the ball. In this case, we must necessarily adapt to what the opponent offers. For that, it is necessary to know what they are doing and therefore, we prepare our matches according to … But for the rest, I always prepare the matches according to us. Laurent Blanc and his players know what to expect. It remains to be seen what they will be able to offer.
