<figure id="attachment_3171066" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3171066" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3171066 size-full" style="font-weight: 600;" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2ebfc722-luis-enrique-30092025.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3171066" class="wp-caption-text">Luis Enrique urged recognition of past achievements, reminding fans that football doesn’t mean winning all trophies or matches. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
PARIS: Paris St-Germain coach Luis Enrique said he has no doubts about his team despite their shock 1-0 French Cup defeat at home to newly promoted city rivals Paris FC before a return to Ligue 1 on Friday.
PSG enjoyed a record-breaking campaign last season, completing the first treble in French football, winning their domestic league and cup, as well as the Champions League.
Things have not gone so well this season, with PSG sitting second in Ligue 1, one point behind surprise leaders Lens, and already out of the cup.
&#8220;Honestly, if anyone has any doubts about our team&#8230; they should drop them,&#8221; Luis Enrique said on Thursday before hosting fourth-placed Lille.
&#8220;What&#8217;s the problem? People think we&#8217;re going to win all the trophies and all of our matches? Football doesn&#8217;t work that way.
&#8220;You have to highlight what we&#8217;ve accomplished. I have no doubts about the type of team we are.&#8221;
PSG won the league by 19 points last season but Lens have strung together a nine-match winning run in all competitions to surge to the top of Ligue 1.
In the meantime, the champions have had to contend with a spate of injuries.
PSG have not been as sharp as last season, something that was in evidence on Monday against Paris FC when they failed to score from 25 shots on goal, including seven on target.
Paris FC, on the other hand, could muster only four shots, two on target but made their meagre attacking output count.
Despite the recent injury returns of attacking pair Ousmane Dembele, the current Ballon d&#8217;Or, and Desire Doue, PSG cannot find the same creativity and intensity as last season.
And while the French Cup was not top of their list of priorities this season, Luis Enrique said he hopes their elimination &#8220;will be a motivation for Ligue 1 and the Champions League, which are the most important competitions&#8221;.
PSG are well placed to secure a top eight finish in the league phase of the Champions League and avoid the dreaded play-offs but face a tricky trip to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
Lens, meanwhile, will be without top scorer Odsonne Edouard for the visit of lowly Auxerre on Saturday.
Edouard, who joined this season from Crystal Palace, has scored eight goals in 16 matches for the Blood and Golds but was injured during Sunday&#8217;s 3-0 French Cup victory over Sochaux.
&#8220;We think that he could play, maybe for 15 minutes, but we don&#8217;t want to take the risk,&#8221; coach Pierre Sage said on Thursday.
Youngster Rayan Fofana, who was the first-choice forward at the start of the season before Edouard&#8217;s arrival, is likely to deputise.
Third-placed Marseille face a tough trip to Angers knowing that any more slip-ups like last week&#8217;s 2-0 home defeat to Nantes will likely end any title aspirations they might have, as they already trail Lens by eight points.

MatchPoint Times

Luis Enrique has no doubts about PSG’s title credentials

PSG struggles this season, sitting second in Ligue 1 behind Lens and already eliminated from the French Cup.

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