PSG travel to take on Nantes in Ligue 1 opener
PSG are defending champions
They have left out Gianluigi Donnarumma
Luis Enrique believes it will be a “close” fight for the 2025-26 Ligue 1 title, despite Paris Saint-Germain being overwhelming favourites.
PSG cruised to the league title last season with six games to go, finishing 19 points ahead of second-place Marseille despite winning just two of their last five matches.
The French club completed a domestic league and cup double last season before securing their maiden Champions League title after thrashing Inter 5-0 in the final.
Although Luis Enrique’s side lost 3-0 in the Club World Cup final against Chelsea, they responded with a penalty-shootout victory over Tottenham in the Super Cup after coming back from 2-0 down.
PSG will start their 2025-26 Ligue 1 campaign with an away trip to Nantes, who finished 13th and just three points above the relegation places.
And though his team hold a 78.1% chance of retaining the title, according to Opta's supercomputer, Luis Enrique anticipates a closer title race this time around.
“Last year the championship was like this because we were at a very good level,” said Luis Enrique.
“This is not ‘normal’. For this season, I can't know what will happen. But we want this Championship. It will be close. For us it was difficult [last year]. We're happy to start.
“To continue to make history was the first goal of the first day when I arrived. At the moment, we're doing it but it's very difficult to see a team win the Champions League twice.
“That's our goal. We are very ambitious. We know it's going to be difficult, but it's normal to have that mentality. It will depend on us, on our level. It's a very fun goal.”
Due to PSG’s dominant 2024-25 season, a glut of their players were nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
Ousmane Dembele, one of the favourites to win the award, recorded 46 goal contributions (33 goals, 13 assists) for PSG across all competitions (not counting the Club World Cup).
Achraf Hakimi, meanwhile, created more chances from open play than any other defender (98) for a team in Europe's top five leagues.
Hakimi has publicly talked up his chances of winning the award, though Luis Enrique insisted his team are not focused on individual goals.
He said: “I know that you journalists like polemics. It's a good attempt.
“But all the players at PSG remain focused on the most important thing, the club. Our supporters know that.
“Winning trophies as a team is the main objective. We have to stay focused on that.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nantes – Youssef El-Arabi
If he features on Sunday, El-Arabi will make his return to Ligue 1 14 years and 80 days after his last appearance, with Caen against Marseille on 29 May 2011.
It would equal the largest gap between two matches in the competition since Opta has had this data (1947-48) previously set by Samuel Lobe between 19 January 1986 (Nancy) and 8 April 2000 (Troyes).
Paris Saint-Germain – Ousmane Dembele
Dembele scored the joint-most goals in Ligue 1 last season, matching Mason Greenwood’s total of 21 while providing six assists.
The 28-year-old played a crucial role in PSG’s comeback win against Tottenham in the Super Cup, assisting Goncalo Ramos’ stoppage-time header to take the match to extra-time.
If he is to win the Ballon d'Or, then a flying start to 2025-26 would do no harm. The five previous players who have won the Ligue 1 top scorer award while playing for PSG have all managed to win it on multiple occasions (six times for Kylian Mbappe, three times for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and twice each for Carlos Bianchi, Pauleta and Edinson Cavani).
MATCH PREDICTION: PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN WIN
PSG have got the better of Nantes of late, unbeaten in the last six Ligue 1 matches between them.
Indeed, Nantes are looking for their first league win in fixtures between the two sides since February 2022.
PSG were the top-scorers in Ligue 1 last season, finding the back of the net 92 times, their highest total since the 2018-19 season (105).
Nantes had five wins, six draws, and six losses in 17 Ligue 1 contests at home last season. PSG, meanwhile, recorded 12 wins, four draws, and one loss in their 17 Ligue 1 contests on the road.
PSG were the team that spent the largest proportion of their matches leading in Ligue 1 last season (53%) while Nantes were the side that spent the most time drawing (52%).
In the last 20 seasons in Ligue 1, the reigning champions have only lost twice in the opening match of the following season (W12 D6 - 1-2 defeats of Marseille v Caen in August 2010 and 0-1 of Paris at Lens in September 2020).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nantes – 14.5%
Paris Saint-Germain – 66.8%
Draw – 18.8%
