Paris Saint-Germain will be hosting new boys, Girona, in the first fixture of the new Champions League format on Wednesday night, hoping to make a winning start.
Les Parisiens have been on top form so far winning four out of four in Ligue 1 against Le Havre, Montpellier, LOSC Lille and Stade Brestois, and will want to continue this formidable run against a Girona side looking to make waves in their own campaign.
Girona come into the game with some decent form sitting in 9th in La Liga with seven points after five games, even after losing their two most important players in the summer.
Whilst it may not sound like a classic on paper, both sides hold the quality and play the tactics for a thrilling game of football and should be given full respect throughout the competition from opponents.
PSG sans Kylian Mbappé
It will be the first European campaign since the 2016/17 season for PSG that they will name a team without Kylian Mbappé, as the French club enter a new era without the goal assassin at the top of the pitch.
The star-striker made 308 appearances in all competitions for PSG, scoring 256 goals and assisting 108 over seven seasons before making his less-than-quiet exit to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The move leaves a huge hole in the Paris side regarding goals, assists, work rate and influence but it has not seemed to have affected Luis Enrique’s team just yet, having ended the weekend with their fourth win in Ligue 1 in as many games and scoring 18 goals in the process.
Mbappé leaving opens a great opportunity for Enrique to continue his work on building a new kind of PSG squad - one that is full of young talent and lacking in big names and egos.
The current squad is in stark contrast to the one of late, where Les Parisiens bought the likes of Neymar Jr, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and, of course, Kylian Mbappé.
Now, players like Bradley Barcola, Marco Asensio,, Ousmane Dembélé, and Lee Kang-in are stepping up to fill the void and build a new system, which sees Enrique use a more dynamic, rotational approach to offensive tactics, rather than pinning hopes solely on one player.
Despite missing such an asset up front, football fans should still expect a strong, goal-filled PSG team, whose young energy and exciting talent will show on the pitch against Girona.
A Champions League debut for Girona
For the visitors, the game will be their first-ever Champions League game and their first-ever European fixture.
Girona qualified automatically for the competition after a sensational La Liga campaign last season where they finished third in the league under their head coach Míchel.
The Catalan club had only until recently been playing in Spain’s second division but since recent investment by Manchester City’s owners, Girona have been given a new lease of life and join Europe’s elite for at least eight games.
However, it has not been an easy start to their 2024/25 season after defeats to Atlético Madrid and, most recently, to nearby Barcelona 4-1.
Moreover, they could not hold onto their top striker Artem Dobvyk, who left for AS Roma and Savinho, who was pinched by Manchester City for £40m.
But setbacks aside, their spirits have not been dampened and they look forward to starting their European journey away at Paris Saint-Germain, becoming the 14th Spanish club to make an appearance in the competition.
With Parisian injury concerns and the excitement of being amongst Europe’s elite, no one should write off the quality in this Girona squad and their potential to upset the odds.
Selection headache for Luis Enrique
Ahead of their opening Champions League fixture against Girona, Paris Saint-Germain are nursing a few injury problems and concerns, giving manager Luis Enrique a bit of a selection headache.
Key first-team players Lucas Hernandez and Warren Zaire-Emery will be missing through an ACL and calf injury, respectively.
But perhaps most concerning is the injury to Vitinha - their Portuguese midfield magician, who has become an important player for the Parisian side.
Vitinha played a key role in helping PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, even scoring a goal along the way.
The 24-year-old has become an ever-more influential asset in the Paris side, particularly in connecting the defence to the attack and initiating transition play where possible, so his absence will be missed up against Girona’s midfield.
But that being said, Paris are still expected to name a quality-packed starting XI that should have enough talent to see off the new boys.
Missing a few key players, however, does open the opportunity for the visitors to cause an unwanted upset and start their European journey with a bang.
Can Girona persist with playing from the back?
Under head coach Míchel, Girona have become famous for their possession-based tactics, often playing out from the back - a hallmark of their success in recent seasons.
But playing in the Champions League offers significant challenges to this style of play, with many top European teams executing an aggressive press during large parts of games.
Girona’s tactics revolve around moving the ball with fluidity and changing formations in response to the set-up of their opponents.
It is an approach that has worked perfectly in La Liga, with the Catalans scoring plenty of goals and getting plenty of wins as a result against overall weaker opposition.
The problem comes when top teams start the press and have experienced, talented players up top doing the hard work.
Teams like Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool are adept at pressing and will be ready to pounce upon any mistakes, especially from goal kicks.
Just this weekend saw exactly this happen when teen sensation Lamine Yamal nicked the ball from the Girona defender to score the opening goal in a 4-1 demolition by Barcelona, so they should be very wary of being efficient on the ball when playing out from the back against a similar outfit in Paris Saint-Germain.
