Title holders, Paris SG must win against Lens for their entry into contention in the 32nd final of the Coupe de France on Sunday and thus end a successful first part of the season in Ligue 1 and failure in the Champions League.
In a playful mood, Luis Enrique, the coach of the reigning French champions, first sat among the journalists for his last press conference in 2024, he who usually hates the imposed exercise.
Before his players travel to the North on Sunday (9:00 p.m.) for their last match of the year, the Parisian coach believes that he has many reasons for hope to succeed in his second half of the season.
“I am happy with the team’s performance”explained Luis Enrique on Wednesday evening after PSG’s victory in Monaco 4-2 in the advanced match of the 16th day of L1. “We deserve a lot more points in the Champions League but we accept it. For the rest, I’m delighted. We are not dependent on one, two or three players. We are a group, young, who want to improve”.
In the championship, Paris flies above Ligue 1 and before the Christmas break is ten points ahead of Marseille and Monaco, its two pursuers.
Ineffective in C1
If the Spanish coach assures that “the championship is not played”it is difficult to envisage what could prevent the club from conquering its 13th title at the end of the season.
Paris, however, will have swayed between September and January in particular because of its chaotic course in the Champions League where the team occupies 25th place in the ranking of the league phase, potentially eliminated before the play-offs, because of two small victories in six matches .

French striker from Paris Saint-Germain Randal Kolo Muani prepares to take his place on the sidelines before the start of the Ligue 1 match against AJ Auxerre, in Auxerre, December 6, 2024 / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
It has two matches left, against Manchester City and Stuttgart, to reach the final phase, a minimum for the club, even if the C1 is not the No. 1 objective of its leaders this season.
For this to happen, PSG will need to finally resolve its offensive efficiency problems, identified throughout the first part of the season.
No attacker has managed to take on the role of false number 9, an essential link in the system imposed by Luis Enrique.
All, however, officially maintain the confidence of their coach, who, with the opening of the transfer market arriving, said on Saturday“have no urgency, no need (to recruit)”be “very happy with the squad, better than last year”but nevertheless conceded that “every time there is a transfer period, you have to be attentive” and that “if there is a possibility of improving the squad, then we will see”.
Osimhen on the radars
If his squad suits him, two players, striker Randal Kolo Muani and defender Milan Skriniar, who no longer fit into his plans, could however leave the capital this winter.
To replace the French international, who has struggled since the start of the season with the Parisian jersey, PSG would be thinking of the Nigerian striker from Galatasaray, Victor Osimhen.
Questioned on Saturday about the potential arrival of the Super Eagle, Luis Enrique found his old reflexes by brushing the question aside: “I’m not talking about players who are not at the club”.
Those there are getting better and better while the infirmary was often full at the start of the season, with the exception of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, seriously injured in the face by Wilfried Singo on Wednesday in Monaco and who is going to work “in the room” until the end of the week.
The Italian will not be traveling to Lens, Matvey Safonov being offered a new chance to shine in the Parisian cages in his absence.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov clears the ball during the Champions League match against Bayern Munich, in Munich, November 26, 2024 / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
PSG, on the other hand, recorded the return of Nuno Mendes during the 32nd final of the Coupe de France.
After Lens, the players will benefit from a few days of rest with a personalized program. They will meet to prepare for the Champions Trophy on January 5 in Doha against Monaco.