Paris Saint-Germain lost 3-0 to Mallorca this Wednesday at the Son Moix Stadium in a friendly match. After the game, PSG head coach Luis Enrique spoke to PSG TV.
“It was a match to improve our physical fitness.”
“It’s hard to make a fair assessment. I think we played an interesting first half, but we made a mistake on the second goal we conceded, and things got difficult. Still, I’m happy with what I saw; I saw the ‘Titis’ [academy players] playing very well. It was a match to improve our physical fitness. It’s not the result we would have liked, but that’s football.
When you play against Paris Saint-Germain, it’s a source of motivation for any team—that’s normal. It’s our first week of pre-season, and we had a lot of academy players in the squad. They are very young, and I have to highlight their level of play and their mentality. We’ll play another pre-season match in three days. It’s normal; we’re waiting for our international players to return so we can see what our team is truly like.”
Naturally, players and staff always prefer a win. However, there is no cause for alarm over this friendly match defeat. As is often said, the main goal in such a game is to work on preparations for the season ahead. There was also a disparity in match fitness, given that Mallorca resumed training earlier, had a more complete squad, and had already played two matches.
The Parisian side was composed primarily of young players—some making their professional debuts—while eleven first-team regulars were absent. One shouldn’t draw sweeping conclusions, even if the performance could have been better in certain areas, such as the second goal conceded, which was clearly avoidable. The task now is to use this match for what lies ahead, taking away the necessary lessons without dwelling on it. Above all, PSG must work with the upcoming competitive fixtures in mind—specifically the European Super Cup against Aston Villa on August 12. There is a second friendly match coming up first, however: this Saturday against Manchester United.
