Luis Enrique has admitted Paris Saint-Germain head into the UEFA Super Cup final with an unusually disrupted preparation, after some players returned on Monday and others came back the previous week. With the first official match of the season arriving against Aston Villa this Wednesday in Salzburgo, the PSG coach said he is still trying to work out exactly where his squad stands physically.
That matters because this is not being treated as a throwaway occasion. Luis Enrique said the final is PSG’s first official game of the campaign and stressed that the club want to be competitive straight away, just as they were last season when they pushed on to challenge for silverware.
Why PSG’s build-up has been so difficult
The simple answer is timing. Luis Enrique linked the strange preparation to the Mundial, with the summer break leaving him without a full group for the kind of training block most teams would normally want before a major European final. He said he rested practically all summer, while the squad came back in stages rather than as one complete group.
“No tengo jugadores,” he said. “Algunos jugadores regresaron este lunes, otros volvieron la semana pasada. Estamos intentando prepararnos de la mejor manera posible. No sé en qué estado de forma estarán mis jugadores.”
That is a striking admission on the eve of a final. It does not mean PSG are unprepared in a technical sense, but it does underline how little collective work they have been able to do together before facing Aston Villa in Salzburgo, Austria.
A repeat of last year’s unusual timing
There is also a familiar pattern here. Last year, PSG went through an atypical preparation because of the Mundial de Clubes, so this is not a completely new problem for Luis Enrique. Even so, the coach’s comments suggest he would have preferred a more settled buildup before a one-off contest that can shape the mood of a season.
He put the focus firmly on the occasion itself, saying it is the first official match of the season and that PSG hope to be competitive and go after the Supercopa. In the context of a campaign that could offer six possible trophies, that sort of early test matters more than usual.
Marquinhos sets the tone for PSG
Marquinhos gave the squad’s response a more upbeat tone, insisting Aston Villa have caused PSG problems in the past but that the past must be forgotten if they are to win on Wednesday. He also made clear that the team do not intend to sit back.
“Sin importar el rival ni el partido, vamos a presionar y a intentar recuperar el balón,” he said.
That is the key question for PSG now. If the pressing is sharp, they can compensate for the lack of time together. If it is not, the disrupted preparation may quickly become a real issue against an opponent they already respect.
What comes next
For Luis Enrique, the challenge is less about making a grand statement and more about getting a group of players ready enough to compete in a final they have reached with limited rhythm. PSG may still be confident, but the coach has made it clear that the physical condition of his players is not yet fully known.
That uncertainty makes the UEFA Super Cup more revealing than a routine curtain-raiser. It is the first official test of the season, and for PSG it arrives before their preparation has really had time to settle.
