Paris Saint-Germain travel south to the home of Clermont Foot, Ligue 1’s bottom side, on Saturday afternoon.
Luis Enrique hasn’t enjoyed a faultless start to life in the French capital but was purring after PSG’s record-equalling 4-0 thumping of Marseille last weekend.
“This was perfect,” he gushed. “It was very close to the concept of dominating matches.”
Up against a Clermont side with one point from six games, here’s the lineup Enrique may deploy to continue his pursuit of perfect domination.
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – PSG academy graduates are littered across the goals of Europe’s top leagues – AC Milan’s Mike Maignan and Alphonse Areola of West Ham United are two notable homegrown departures – but the capital club have instead opted for the fallible Donnarumma on a lavish salary.
CB: Marquinhos – Arriving in France as a 19-year-old, Marquinhos was swept up in the romance of his new home. “It’s a magical city,” the Brazilian has, like so many others, said, “a city of love.”
CB: Milan Skriniar – A defender more closely associated with his defensive, rather than dextrous, qualities, Skriniar has completed the most passes at the highest success rate of any Ligue 1 player this season.
CB: Lucas Hernandez – The Marseille-born defender – whose father played for OM – felt the need to distance himself from PSG’s fierce rivals when he signed for the capital side this summer, reminding fans that he was part of the Atletico Madrid team that beat Marseille to win the 2018 Europa League final.
RWB: Achraf Hakimi – A perfect embodiment of the modern, attacking wing-back, Hakimi has scored three goals and teed up another one across his last four appearances for PSG.
CM: Manuel Ugarte – Despite PSG’s monopoly of the ball – they are the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to average more than 70% possession this season – Ugarte has made the second-most tackles in Ligue 1.
CM: Warren Zaire-Emery – According to Enrique, the teenager “may well be 37” given the maturity of his recent performances.
LWB: Bradley Barcola – Brought into the team against Marseille in place of Vitinha to exploit his one-on-one prowess.
RW: Ousmane Dembele – One of four PSG players summoned by French Football’s governing body for his alleged involvement in offensive chants after the crushing victory over Marseille last weekend.
ST: Randal Kolo Muani – The former Eintracht Frankfurt striker set a Bundesliga record with nine assists in his first 13 games in the competition. Kolo Muani has already created two goals – and scored one himself – in a little over 100 Ligue 1 minutes this term.
LW: Goncalo Ramos – With Kylian Mbappe expected to miss out ahead of PSG’s Champions League clash with Newcastle United in midweek, Ramos could benefit from the star man’s absence.
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