Re: French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1)
Who knows, PSG will be lucky to win the Champions League trophy this season, even though we know their chances are very low, in football there is always room for surprises. It's true, this is Mbappe last season at PSG, of course Enrique will hope a lot for Mbappe help on the front lines, he is a player who can make a difference in the outcome of the match. It looks like they will win the second leg against Sociedad, most recently Sociedad also suffered defeat in La Liga.
Enrique can be very comfortable shifting PSG focus to the Champions League, without worrying that their position will be overtaken by their closest competitors in Ligue 1, because the current point gap is very difficult for Brest, Nice and Lille to catch up. As we know, in terms of depth the PSG squad actually has the same bargaining value as the favorite teams, they are eligible to challenge for the trophy, it's just that they haven't been lucky, Enrique will try his best this season.
This is of course as true as it is for any other club that is still in the Champions League alive and kicking. With some luck and some good drawings PSG could make it far and they have shown a solid performance against Real Sociedad, although frankly speaking, Real Sociedad is not Real Madrid
I wonder whether Luis Enrique will make the mistake and rotate too much and stop giving his players playing time and practice to be ready on point when the Champions League games take place. Due to their 13 points advantage in Ligue 1, it is not rare that coaches think the time has come to send the superstars on part-time vacation so to say. But I think that is counterproductive strategy as these top performers need to perform in order to stay in shape.
Too much rotation can disturb the functioning of the squad. But the worst thing is that PSG really has no challenges ahead of them anymore except for the Champions League. That makes it hard to stay focused. Manchester City in contrast is in the zone. They need to deliver every few days. It is business as usual for them.