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Dembele celebrates his sensational goal against Lille on Friday night Franco Arland/Getty Images As Vitinha’s long-range effort sailed harmlessly over the crossbar in the dying seconds of stoppage time, an unfamiliar realisation dawned upon the Parc des Princes: for once, this season, Paris Saint-Germain were not going to succeed in wriggling off the hook. PSG have rarely been at their flamboyant best in recent weeks, but they have invariably managed nevertheless to secure the results they needed. Advertisement Drawing 2-2 at Lyon in early November, PSG ended up running out 3-2 winners thanks to a Joao Neves header in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Luis Enrique’s side encountered similar resistance at struggling Metz a month later, but a breakaway strike by Desire Doue in the second half secured another 3-2 win. Calamity appeared set to befall the European champions earlier this month when they trailed 2-1 to arch rivals Marseille going into added time in the Trophee des Champions in Kuwait. But they pulled off another great escape, equalising via a 95th-minute Goncalo Ramos volley and then prevailing 4-1 in the ensuing penalty shootout. It was the third time in five months, somewhat remarkably, that PSG had won on penalties in a one-off trophy match, having triumphed in similar fashion against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup in August and against Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup in December. Those two successes, which took the club’s trophy tally for the year 2025 to an extraordinary six, seemed to represent a continuation of the momentum that had swept PSG to their maiden Champions League crown last season — momentum that had been checked only temporarily by defeat against Chelsea in the final of last summer’s Club World Cup. But Vitinha’s wayward effort represented the last futile act of resistance in a defeat that, on this occasion, PSG could not dodge. Beaten 1-0 by newly-flush neighbours Paris FC in the Coupe de France a week ago, having squandered a succession of chances, PSG fell before the competition’s round of 16 for the first time since 2014. It meant that for the first time since his appointment as head coach in July 2023, Luis Enrique had entered a national competition with PSG and failed to win it. And it was not the only apparent indication of slipping standards. Advertisement Having been 10 points clear in Ligue 1 at the turn of the year 12 months ago, PSG went into 2026 in second place, trailing Pierre Sage’s brilliant Lens team by a point, a gap that remains. While they remain well placed to qualify automatically for the Champions League knockout phase, following impressive early wins over Atalanta, Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen, their crown has slipped a little since last May’s historic evisceration of Inter in the final in Munich. PSG deservedly lost 2-1 at home to 10-man Bayern Munich in early November, somehow contrived to ship three goals against one of the most uninspiring Tottenham teams in recent history in a 5-3 win three weeks later and could only manage a wasteful 0-0 draw at Athletic Club in their most recent outing in the competition. PSG’s unconvincing team performances inevitably find an echo in their players’ individual displays. Super sub Ramos is the only player to have hit double figures for goals in all competitions, while Bradley Barcola leads the way for league goals with a paltry total of six. Whereas PSG’s stellar attack of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Doue and Barcola contributed a combined total of 80 goals across all the competitions last season, their tally for the present campaign currently stands at 26. Although Warren Zaire-Emery has rediscovered the form that once made him one of Europe’s most talked-about teenagers, last season’s first-choice midfield trio of Vitinha, Neves and Fabian Ruiz is not operating with quite the same verve as it did in 2024-25. Further back, both new goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier and new centre-back Ilya Zabarnyi have come in for criticism after costly errors. (Chevalier, it should be said, went some way towards redeeming himself with a man-of-the-match display in the shootout win over Marseille in the Trophee des Champions. ) But it is in scrutinising the reasons behind PSG’s individual difficulties that an explanation for their recent collective travails begins to emerge. Advertisement The principal ramification of PSG’s success in reaching the inaugural Club World Cup final was that the French champions had to effectively forego any kind of pre-season. After a three-week break, the squad had only a handful of training sessions before heading to Udine for the Super Cup. Four days later, they opened their league title defence with a 1-0 win at Nantes. The inevitable consequence was a veritable avalanche of injuries over the first half of the season, with Dembele, Doue, Neves, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Ruiz, Chevalier, Senny Mayulu, Lucas Beraldo, Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes and Matvei Safonov all spending time on the sidelines. Successively assailed by hamstring and calf injuries, followed by a brief period of illness, freshly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Dembele has made just five Ligue 1 starts this season. For Champions League final hero Doue, who has also been dogged by calf and hamstring problems, the equivalent figure is six. The situation has, finally, improved in 2026, helped in part by French football’s two-week winter break. But physical fitness remains uppermost in the players’ minds. “There is no crisis, ” says a source close to the changing room, speaking on condition of anonymity — like others in this article — to protect relationships. “But the players are managing their efforts. “Prior to the season, everyone knew that these injury problems were going to arise. And on top of that, it’s a World Cup season. The players knew that there were going to be injuries sooner or later. “So they’re managing their efforts now in order to be in the best possible form in February/March, when the knockout phase of the Champions League begins. They’re on a real mission this season and their mission is to win the Champions League for the second year running. ” Although the cup defeat by Paris FC was a setback, the identity of PSG’s conquerors did not exacerbate the sense of disappointment. Paris FC may be the new kids on the block, their Stade Jean-Bouin home standing on the other side of the road from the Parc des Princes, but relations between the clubs are friendly. Paris FC owner Antoine Arnault is an avowed PSG fan and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has publicly applauded his efforts to establish a second footballing powerhouse in the French capital. Advertisement At the PSG Campus, the defeat by Paris FC is being portrayed not as a wake-up call but as a timely reminder that it was always going to be nigh-on impossible for PSG to replicate their remarkable trophy-hogging exploits from last season. “I can accept that people might doubt us, but I don’t understand them and I don’t pay attention to them, ” Luis Enrique told a press conference prior to Friday’s 3-0 win over Lille. “Do you really think we’re going to win every match and every trophy? People need to appreciate what we achieved (last season). ” The same message is being echoed throughout the club. “Last year was amazing, unparalleled, pinch-yourself stuff, because it wasn’t normal — it was literally historic, ” says a senior PSG source. “It’s almost impossible for it to be as good again. The fact we’re out of one tournament this year is a reminder of that. “There’s no panic. It’s quite the opposite — complete focus, collectiveness and belief. Let’s see where we are in May — that’s when it matters. For now, it’s business as usual. ” There is even a belief that the elimination by Paris FC could serve as a blessing in disguise. With PSG out of the cup and on track to avoid the Champions League play-off round, which takes place over the final two weeks of February, Luis Enrique is hoping for an entire month free of midweek fixtures in which to work with his players on the training pitch. “I can’t remember the last time we did a tactical session on the pitch, ” he said last week. “Playing every three days, it’s impossible. We’ve been doing it in video sessions. In the coming months, we’ll be able to work on it on the pitch. ” The minor wobbles of recent weeks have fuelled a flurry of media speculation about Luis Enrique’s future at PSG, with reports ranging from unsourced claims that he was planning to leave the club to assertions that he was on the brink of being offered a contract for life. Advertisement The rumour about the 55-year-old’s potential departure at the end of the season ­— which appeared to stem from social media citations of a report by German tabloid Bild that did not actually exist — was denounced by sporting advisor Luis Campos, who told Canal+ journalist Olivier Tallaron it was “100 per cent fake news”. Luis Enrique is under contract with PSG until the summer of 2027 and there is confidence at high levels that he remains fully committed to the club. Speculation is also swirling around Dembele, who is seeking a new, improved contract to reflect his status as a Ballon d’Or winner. Following reports that he had rejected the club’s first proposal, his entourage told Le Parisien that no contract offer had been made and that, consequently, no contract offer had been turned down. Taking his cue from Campos, Luis Enrique gave the reports about Dembele characteristically short shrift. “There are always rumours around Paris Saint-Germain, ” he said. “We’re used to it. I think it’s private, totally private. There is always a lot of fake news around Paris Saint-Germain. ” PSG experienced a defeat of a different kind in mid-December when a Paris employment tribunal ruled in favour of Kylian Mbappe in his long-running stand-off with his former employers, obliging the club to pay him €60million (£52m; $69m) in unpaid salary and bonus payments. PSG had filed a counterclaim against the 27-year-old France captain and were seeking around €440m in damages, arguing that in leaving the club free of charge to join Real Madrid in 2024, he had contravened the terms of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. Although the court rejected all of PSG’s demands, it also dismissed Mbappe’s additional claims, including psychological harassment, undeclared work, reputational damage and an attempt to have the terms of his employment reclassified as a permanent contract under French law. Advertisement “The fact that we took it all the way to court was very much a matter of principle, which is: no one will be allowed to do this again, ” says the high-ranking PSG source. “We don’t see it as a defeat. We’re delighted it’s all over. ” PSG are not due to receive the court’s formal judgement for another three months, but the club is not expected to appeal against the decision. Although the storm clouds appeared to be gathering in the aftermath of the cup exit against Paris FC, they were chased away by Friday night’s breezy 3-0 home win against Lille in Ligue 1. Dembele struck twice, the second time with an exquisite gossamer chip over visiting goalkeeper Berke Ozer, with Barcola adding the third. “It was good to get back to winning ways straight away, ” says another PSG source. “It can happen that you lose a match, but the players showed that they were completely focused and mobilised. “The players are focused and there’s a great atmosphere in the changing room. And they’re as determined as they have been all season. ” The defending champions approach Tuesday’s Champions League visit to Sporting CP of Portugal in the knowledge that it was precisely at this stage of last season, with a dramatic 4-2 comeback win over Manchester City at a rain-lashed Parc des Princes on January 22, that their campaign suddenly clicked into gear. To date this season, PSG have shown only flickers of the football that propelled them into the history books last term. But with Dembele back in form, a fit-again Hakimi due to return from the Africa Cup of Nations, the injury problems of the autumn behind them and a congestion-free month of February potentially lying before them, there are signs that they might be about to start moving through the gears once again. Tom Williams is a freelance writer for The Athletic, covering French football