Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique does not expect his squad to be hindered by a lack of experience when their Champions League campaign starts on Wednesday (8pm BST) against a visiting Girona side who play “wonderful” football.
The reigning French champions have named the second-youngest average starting side during the first four matches of the Ligue 1 season.
Their average age of 23.1 is more than six months younger than the average of the youngest starting side on the first night of this season’s Champions League, which was named by Portuguese club Sporting.
Ready for the first fight? ⚔️
🔜 #PSGGIR I #UCL ✨ pic.twitter.com/2dDel53TrQ
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) September 17, 2024
PSG squad age ‘no handicap’
“You can win and not have much experience,” argued Enrique. “How much experience do we need? There is no doubt we are a young team but I do not put limitations on myself, nor my players.
“Experience is important, of course, in everything in life but I see many expert players who make the same mistakes and many young players who also do that. I don’t feel it is a handicap for us to be a young team.”
Despite losing all-time PSG record scorer Kylian Mbappe at the end of last season, Paris have won all four of their league matches before they face one of the surprise packages of European football last season in Champions League debutants Girona.
Girona: Enrique ‘a fan’
The Blanquivermells scored six more goals than Barcelona in 2023-24, finishing four points behind the runners-up in third and qualifying for the Champions League by beating them in May, helped by three goals in 11 second-half minutes.
“No-one expected this – it’s the first time that Girona are going to play in the Champions League but I have to say that last season, in practically all of their games, without a doubt, they were one of the best Spanish teams and the most fun to watch,” said Enrique.
Matchday eve!
🔜 #PSGGIR I #UCL…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/football/champions-league/psg-vs-girona-paris-st-germain/
Author : Ben Miller
Publish date : 2024-09-18 10:18:28
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