A few years ago, Raphaël Varane, 2018 Fifa Club World Cup winner as part of the French national team, compared professional football to a “washing machine.” The analogy would ring true for the players of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). To extend the metaphor, after the spin cycle – three weeks of vacation after their defeat (3-0) in the FIFA Club World Cup final match against Chelsea, on July 13 – coach Luis Enrique’s players, still wrung out, began a new cycle on Wednesday, August 13, as they are set to face Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup, before returning to the Ligue 1, with a match against Nantes on July 17.
Exactly one month before, the team experienced a bitter end to a dazzling season, whose high point was its Champions League final victory (5-0) over Inter Milan on May 31. The 2024-2025 season was, for the PSG’s players, coach, and staff, as grueling as it was historic. “We are very tired. We played a lot of matches,” said Gianluigi Donnarumma, the PSG’s Italian goalkeeper – who was left out of the squad for Wednesday’s match – on June 23, after the Club World Cup group stage.
You have 76.83% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
