Marquinhos Seeks Talks With Luis Enrique After PSG Derby Defeat Ahead Of Champions League Finalnewsline24

Paris Saint-Germain ended their Ligue 1 title defence with a 2-1 derby defeat to Paris FC, leaving captain Marquinhos warning that Luis Enrique will demand a strong reaction before the Champions League final against Arsenal in 13 days in Budapest.

Bradley Barcola had opened the scoring in the 50th minute, but substitute Alimami Gory struck twice late on to hand PSG a sixth league loss of the campaign, and Marquinhos expects Luis Enrique to give the squad “a hard time” in preparation for Europe.

Despite already being crowned Ligue 1 champions, PSG’s defeat carried several worrying markers, including their first league loss after scoring the opening goal since 12 May 2024 against Toulouse, ending a 55-match unbeaten run in such situations and raising questions ahead of the Champions League final.

Paris FC also became the first newly promoted side to beat PSG in the top flight since Lorient’s 3-2 victory on 31 January 2021, while a recent draw with Lorient means PSG have now gone two successive Ligue 1 matches without beating promoted opponents for the first time since January and February 2014.

Statistically, Paris FC were stronger across the match and created more clear chances, posting an expected goals value of 2.13 from 17 shots, compared with PSG’s 0.62 from nine efforts at Kevin Trapp’s goal, underlining why the champions left with nothing from the derby.

PSG’s attacking output has dipped in recent league fixtures, with Luis Enrique’s side attempting 10 shots or fewer in back-to-back Ligue 1 matches for the first time since January and February 2024, taking 10 attempts against Lens and only nine versus Paris FC as their forward line struggled to create.

Their season-long numbers also reflect a modest drop from previous years, as PSG ended the Ligue 1 campaign with an average of 2.2 points per game, lower than almost every season in the last decade and only above their 2020-21 return of 2.16, when they finished second, with this figure also ranking as the second-lowest for any French champion in that period behind Lille’s 2020-21 side.

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PSG Champions League final build-up hit by Ousmane Dembele injury

There was further concern for PSG on 27 minutes when Ousmane Dembele left the pitch injured and was replaced by Goncalo Ramos, raising doubts over Dembele’s availability for the Champions League final and adding to Luis Enrique’s list of issues from a frustrating evening in Paris.

Marquinhos stressed that the group must use the setback as motivation, accepting that team standards fell short and that the first-half level in particular did not match expectations, even though PSG briefly looked on course for a win after Barcola’s early second-half breakthrough.

“It’s the end of the season with a lot of challenges still ahead for us, a Champions League final. It’sone of the best things that can happen to us in a season, Marquinhos said. This is my third Champions League final here in Paris. I know how difficult it is.It’s an exciting end to the season. And even though we didn’t win today, we’ll focus on the things we can improve. The coach will give us a bit of a talking to over these two weeks so we can improve for this final.”

Reflecting on the defeat, Marquinhos admitted the champions fell below their usual standards and insisted that every lesson must be carried into the Arsenal clash, saying, “We’ll take the context with us, and everything we can learn from it, we’ll take it with us. We’ll grow and learn from this defeat, Marquinhos added. We didn’t play the way we should have. We should have done better. Especially in the first half, we weren’t at our best. We did manage to score in the second half, but we have to keep going. We have two weeks to properly prepare for this new objective we have set for ourselves.”

Head coach Luis Enrique offered little detail about Dembele’s condition but expressed frustration at the overall display, stating, “Nothing to say about Ousmane. We’ll see [on Monday], he said. I’m a bit disappointed with the match. I knew we had no objective. I expect much more from my players.”

As PSG shift attention fully toward the Champions League final, the defeat to Paris FC, the injury concern for Ousmane Dembele, the decline in attacking numbers and the modest points return across Ligue 1 collectively frame a demanding build-up for Luis Enrique and a squad still searching for a sharper edge.