PSG begin post-Mbappe era with win at Le Havre
LE HAVRE, France (AFP) — Paris Saint-Germain began their defence of the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 win at Le Havre on Friday, in their first competitive game since the departure of talisman Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid.
Lee Kang-in gave PSG the lead inside three minutes in Normandy only for Gautier Lloris to equalise, but late goals by Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and a Randal Kolo Muani penalty sealed the victory for the reigning French champions.
It was a comfortable win in the end for Luis Enrique’s team, with their substitutes ultimately making the difference as PSG’s strength in depth proved too much for a team who only just avoided relegation last season.
“It is the first game back and it’s a very good start,” said PSG’s Spanish coach.
The French international trio of Kolo Muani, Dembele and Barcola all began the game on the bench, while Portugal midfielder Joao Neves came on at half-time for his debut after joining from Benfica for a fee that could reach 69.9 million euros ($76.7m) including bonuses.
Yet Le Havre will wonder what might have been had a Josue Casimir goal — which would have put them in front early in the second half — not been disallowed by VAR for a handball.
“We had highs and lows, but the substitutes did a lot of good for us,” added Luis Enrique.
“The final score disguises the fact that there are things to improve upon. We gave away lots of easy balls and had we gone 2-1 down that might have changed everything.”
PSG have not made any marquee signings to fill the enormous void left by Mbappe, who departed for Madrid in June after scoring 44 goals last season and registering a club-record 256 across his seven years at the club.
It remains to be seen if Luis Enrique’s team can repeat their performances of the last campaign, when they swept all the domestic honours and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Spanish coach was without several regulars here, with left-back Nuno Mendes suspended while Fabian Ruiz is not yet ready to return after helping Spain win Euro 2024.
There was a debut on the left wing for Ibrahim Mbaye, who is only 16 and was one of three teenagers in PSG’s starting line-up alongside Yoram Zague and Warren Zaire-Emery, both 18.
