Paris Saint-Germain got off to winning ways in the Champions League with a 4-0 thrashing of Atalanta. They continue to excel under Luis Enrique and have picked up from where they left off.
Here are four things we learned from a devastating display.
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Injuries are becoming a growing concern
Enrique's men have shown that physicality is not a challenge they will shy away from, beating four Premier League clubs on the way to the trophy in May. But the strains of the schedule are growing.
Les Parisiens played in the Club World Cup and advanced all the way to the final before their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea. Now, the dreams of a sextuple are over, and they might experience the worst of both worlds with the fatigue from the extra football in the summer still in their minds and legs.
Without any preseason prep, they escaped with a win against Tottenham in the Super Cup. But the squad would soon suffer from absences as Ousmane Dembélé is out of action with a hamstring injury, and Désiré Doué picked up a calf injury on national duty with France earlier in the month.
There was little to complain about on Wednesday night, but João Neves pulled up with discomfort in his thigh. Even though Warren Zaire-Emery is an able deputy, it is another injury to worry about.
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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia commands the show
A lot has changed for PSG since the start of the calendar year, but a big difference in their roster was the arrival of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli. He signed for £59 million as something of a luxury for a side that lacked a recognised striker in favour with Enrique, but the transfer has paid off.
The Georgian winger is willing to work hard and integrate into the group ethic of Enrique's game model. But what matters most in the final third is stardust, something he has in abundance.
In an inspired first half, he completed 100% of his dribbles, completed four key passes, and won five out of six duels, dominating on both sides of the ball. From strong ball carries to through balls for the flying Achraf Hakimi, he looked like a player familiar with the unique approach of the Serie A side.
Kvaratskhelia was one of many figures to cut apart the man marking of the visitors and nowhere more so than his solo effort. He shuffled away from Berat Djimsiti, dug a way through the white and blue shirts, and slapped the ball into the back of the net. His Player of the Match Award was well-deserved.
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Bradley Barcola must keep believing in himself
The arrival of Kvaratskhelia meant minutes would be harder to come by for one French forward.
Bradley Barcola started the 2024/25 season on fire in front of goal, netting 10 goals in his first Ligue 1 games after a debut campaign when he was often under fire. However, the output dried up for the 23-year-old in the new year, and he continues to frustrate fans at points in the final third.
Barcola bagged a brace on the weekend against Lens with two superb strikes and stood up to the plate to take a spot kick to make the score 3-0 towards the end of the first half. However, the goalkeeper smothered his shot, and the laid-back attitude of the attempt meant the miss looked even worse.
That is the sort of decision that critics would point out as the reason why Doué has been preferred in the last few months as the final piece of the front three. But Barcola has to keep holding his head high.
His speed and dribbling make the player a threat who can arrive in quality positions in the penalty area off both flanks. With two compatriots missing, Barcola is still likely to offer more good than bad.
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Parisians performing at the highest level
The Parisians also won their first fixture of the league phase in the Champions League last year, keeping a clean sheet against Girona. However, they were in need of a late own goal from Paulo Gazzaniga to break the deadlock: a world away from the display on Wednesday evening.
Against a team like Atalanta that choose to get tight player to player across the whole pitch, sides often have to move a lot around the pitch to present problems to their markers from back to front.
However, the movement on show from PSG is something that we have come to see week to week with Enrique's men, and they pair that fluidity with firepower in the final third like no other team.
Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, and Neves engage in constant rotation, Nuno Mendes adds to the dribbling danger of the two wingers, and Hakimi has a habit of breaking into the final third across the right.
No two attacks look exactly the same, but everyone is still on the same page in this slick style of play. It is a credit to the coaching of Enrique, and his men still seem to be the team to beat in Europe.
