The starting lineup chosen by the PSG coach on Saturday evening set the tone: the French champions are already in full swing.

Before PSG’s match against Auxerre, fans of the capital club were naturally wondering which team Luis Enrique would field. The answer was given as soon as the lineups were announced, an hour before kickoff: this final league match, a prelude to the title celebrations at the Parc des Princes, was indeed the introduction to the following two weeks of gala action, with the Coupe de France final against Reims and, of course, the Champions League final against Inter.

Vitinha: “When the matches arrive, we’re ready”

“To give some players a rest, others have been given approximately ten days of rest,” calculates the Spanish coach, who had instead chosen the trip to Montpellier, on the 37th and penultimate matchday of Ligue 1, to give his troops a break: “It’s very difficult to find a balance. We have a full week of training ahead of us, we have to manage this end of the season well, and I think we’re doing it well. In terms of pace, there’s a big difference between the first half of the season and the second.”

It was clearly the typical team that was laid down against AJA, with only Désiré Doué being left on the bench at kickoff, but it was indeed a group of twelve players that has been rotating in the big matches for the past few weeks at PSG – with Ousmane Dembélé the only untouchable in the three attacking positions, accompanied by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and therefore Désiré Doué. “I simply thought about the importance of minutes and playing time for those who started, but also those who came on.” The players are in unison with their mentor, a true guide in this final sprint that could prove historic. Like Vitinha: “We were serious and we gave everything, now we can celebrate. When the matches arrive, we are ready. We have a big match to play first in the Coupe de France.” Approaching Auxerre like Reims and Inter, history will quickly tell if this was the winning formula.