Just days after winning their first trophy of the season in a thrilling clash with Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup, Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 action on Sunday in Nantes. To kick off their bid to reclaim the French championship they secured only a few months ago, Luis Enrique made several changes from the starting eleven he had fielded in Udine on Wednesday. Illia Zabarnyi made his long-awaited debut in Rouge et Bleu, partnering Lucas Beraldo at the heart of defence in front of goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier. Lucas Hernandez and Warren Zaïre-Emery completed the back line on the flanks. In midfield, Lee Kang-In and Fabian Ruiz flanked Vitinha, captain for the evening, while Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye played down the wings in support of Gonçalo Ramos.
Right from kick-off, the Rouge et Bleu applied the principles that carried them to a historic season only a few months ago. Exploiting the spaces left open by the Nantes defence down the left flank, Lee Kang-In (2’) and Bradley Barcola (5’) immediately threatened. In both attack and defence, Paris showed discipline and commitment, typified by Warren Zaïre-Emery’s splendid recovery from a lightning-fast counter-attack down the right wing (12’). As the minutes went by, Les Parisiens increasingly camped in Nantes’ final third. Lee Kang-In picked out Gonçalo Ramos on two occasions with pinpoint crosses, but the Portuguese striker failed to hit the target (16’, 21’). Faced with a relatively compact defensive unit, the visitors tried their luck from range, with Vitinha coming closest with an effort that drifted wide (26’).
After a cooling break that allowed both managers to deliver fresh tactical instructions, the hosts finally called Lucas Chevalier into action for the first time (32’), though without truly troubling the vigilant Parisians. In complete control of the first half, Luis Enrique’s men raised the tempo in search of an opener before the interval. Following a fine piece of work by Warren Zaïre-Emery, who found Ibrahim Mbaye inside the box, the youngster laid it back for Lee Kang-In, whose strike from the penalty spot was unfortunately blocked by a Nantes defender (37’). Just minutes later, Nantes were rescued by the crossbar after an audacious lob from a tight angle by Gonçalo Ramos (40’), before Anthony Lopes easily collected a header from Lucas Hernandez (42’).
After the break, the Rouge et Bleu stepped up a gear, piling ever-increasing pressure inside the Nantes penalty area. Mbaye (54’, 57’) and Fabian Ruiz (57’) each fashioned chances in quick succession, but still the breakthrough eluded them. Seeing his side struggle with the finishing touch, Luis Enrique opted to make changes on the hour mark, bringing on Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi, Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé.
From that point on, Nantes looked increasingly shaky, collapsing under a flurry of crosses from Dembélé and Hakimi. Yet it was through the middle of the pitch that the club from the capital finally broke the deadlock. Set up by Nuno Mendes, Vitinha unleashed a crisp strike from 20 metres out that beat Anthony Lopes after a deflection off one of his own defenders (0-1, 67’). Gonçalo Ramos thought he had doubled the lead soon after with a confident finish from the edge of the box, but his effort was ruled out for offside (76’).
Despite leading, the Rouge et Bleu kept pushing forward. Determined to kill off the game, the visitors' attack remained active in the final third, with Bradley Barcola coming close to opening his league account only to see his effort narrowly miss the target (88’). The scoreline would not change and Paris Saint-Germain recorded their first Ligue 1 victory of the season, kicking off their campaign in the best possible way.
