While other teams rely on physicality, PSG trust technique and versatility | Ligue 1

Luis Enrique said his side’s 4-0 win over Nice “showed the kind of team that PSG are”. With Nuno Mendes at left-wing, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia playing as a No 9 and Lucas Beraldo coming on in midfield, it was unlike anything we have seen before. Yet, remarkably, it all felt so familiar.

The dynamics within the game were nothing new. PSG continued to test the limits of positional fluidity, while Nice pushed the limits of their own rigidity by deploying what Nice centre-back Dante called a “team block”. PSG’s waspish front three of Mendes, Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué outmanoeuvred a Nice back three who are all over six-feet tall. While the rest of Ligue 1 have trended towards physicality, PSG have trended towards technicality, and there was only one winner at the Allianz Riviera.

After a midweek win over Chelsea, much was made of PSG’s supposed freshness, the result of their game against Nantes being controversially postponed. But PSG’s real strength does not lie in the physical domain; in this season’s Champions League, they rank 28th for distance covered per match. Last season, they ranked 14th. Inter ranked first and we know how that finished.

Given their lack of pre-season preparation due to the Club World Cup, and the mild injury crisis that ensued, this was never going to be a season when they would physically outmatch their opponents. But there are other ways to compete. To do so, Luis Enrique has begun to use Ligue 1 games as a laboratory.

Not all of his prototypes will be rolled out in the Champions League but he learns something from every experiment. Mendes, for example, can play higher, as his goal and assist against Nice proved; and Beraldo can play midfield. “I am delighted to see a player with the technical quality to play in midfield. It was a great surprise,” said Luis Enrique. He can play this game of trial and error almost without consequence in Ligue 1, even if Lens remain within striking distance.

Within this prototype, there were imperfections. Nice competed in periods in the first half, and PSG left gaping spaces that could be exploited. PSG midfielder Senny Mayulu was forced into a professional foul to avoid a dangerous counterattack and Nice full-back Jonathan Clauss had too much space to influence matters down the right. Over-excited by his newfound attacking freedom, Mendes was lax in his defensive work.

Nonetheless, PSG, without the likes of Achraf Hakimi, João Neves, Bradley Barcola and Fabián Ruiz, took the lead thanks to a controversial penalty, scored by Mendes, before the Portugal international teed up Doué just after the interval. PSG were firmly in control by the time Youssouf Ndayishimiye, a key part of that central Nice block, was sent off for a challenge on Lee Kang-in on the hour mark. Late goals from youngsters Warren Zaïre-Emery and Dro Fernández completed the 4-0 win.

Luis Enrique, the architect of the result, said it was a “perfect night”. Last season, the connections built between the guaranteed starters laid the foundations for their dominance. The starting lineup was almost unchanged; only 13 different players started in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with the midfield trio of Vitinha, Neves and Ruiz left completely untouched.

This season, the same connection has been created not by familiarity between the players but by familiarity with the system; it is a post-player world at PSG, but one that is made possible by high-level coaching and an even higher technical ceiling. Luis Enrique said that Mendes, a left-back by trade, could even play as a No 9 – as Kvaratskhelia did on Saturday. Mayulu, meanwhile, has played every position in the midfield and the forward line, and Zaïre-Emery once again played in defence against Nice. These are the kind of players PSG’s academy is producing: they have incredible technical ability, which helps them change positions and be versatile.

Finding ways to counter that versatility proved difficult for Chelsea, as it did for Nice. “There is no secret,” said Dante. “There are lots of rotations, lots of players who are good in tight spaces.” Kvaratskhelia said that PSG are “capable of everything” after their 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge last week, although Everton beat them by the same scoreline at the weekend. And a 4-0 win against Nice might not be the best evidence either; they lost 4-0 at home to Rennes earlier this month.

Tougher tests await for PSG if they are to retain their titles in the Champions League and Ligue 1. Time will tell whether Luis Enrique will roll out his prototypes when those challenges arise.

Talking points

Bruno Génésio said that people “will have to find another punching bag” when he leaves Ligue 1. The Lille manager has been strongly criticised this season for a middling league campaign and tepid exits from the Coupe de France and the Europa League. Lille failed to win any of their first six league matches in 2026 but have now won four of their last five and are very much in the mix for the Champions League places. They had to come from behind to beat Marseille at the Vélodrome, with Olivier Giroud scoring a late winner. There has been too much onus on the 39-year-old forward, especially since Hamza Igamane suffered an ACL injury at the Africa Cup of Nations, but Giroud has scored a couple of important goals in what may be his final season.

Marseille continue to flounder. Uninspiring wins against Toulouse and Auxerre did little to enthuse their demanding fans. Habib Beye, who replaced Roberto De Zerbi as manager last month, has credit in the bank thanks to his time at the Vélodrome as a player, but he has done little to convince supporters that he is the man for the job in the long term. Ligue 1 may have found its newest “punching bag”.

Auxerre’s spectacular win against Brest reignited the relegation battle. Nice’s win over Angers the previous weekend looked to have given them sufficient breathing room to Auxerre, who occupied the relegation playoff spot. But the gap has been cut to five points, and in the most improbable of circumstances. When the Auxerre goalkeeper, Donovan Léon, was sent off in the sixth minute with the game goalless, it looked likely to be an easy day for Brest, but they went on to lose 3-0. Last week Éric Roy talked about his side “hitting the glass ceiling” but they fell through the floor here. The result was also a blow for Nantes, who, on Vahid Halilhodzic’s return to Beaujoire, lost in the dying seconds. Nantes led twice but Joaquín Panichelli came off the bench to complete a 3-2 comeback win for Strasbourg.