Paris Saint-Germain is back on French soil just days after lifting the European Super Cup, and it faces an opponent eager for revenge. The Trophée des Champions final between Lens - PSG kicks off Sunday at 8:45 p.m. at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, with the reigning European champions chasing their second trophy of the young season, according to France 24.
Luis Enrique's side edged Aston Villa 2-1 in Salzburg on Wednesday to retain the European Super Cup, a result the Spanish coach called hard-fought given his squad's uneven preparation. "On est prêt à un moment de la saison particulier parce qu'il n'y a pas la condition physique, technique habituelle," Enrique told reporters, according to France 24, adding that the Super Cup win nonetheless arrived at a good moment for his group. Players such as Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Vitinha only returned to training in early August, and Vitinha himself warned before the Super Cup that Paris "ne sera peut-être pas au meilleur niveau en début de saison," Eurosport reported.
The cost of that packed schedule showed against Aston Villa, when Nuno Mendes was hit by cramps roughly twenty minutes from time, a sign, France 24 noted, of a squad still building physical readiness for a season in which it will again compete on every front. Enrique has said he will continue managing playing time carefully to avoid injuries as his players ramp up toward the Ligue 1 opener.
Lens, by contrast, arrives fresher. The club avoided the summer disruption of the World Cup that hit rivals such as Aston Villa, which had five key players, including Ollie Watkins, Amadou Onana and Emiliano Martinez, either rested or unavailable for the Super Cup because of their late return from the Americas. Lens did lose several contributors from last season's run to a second-place Ligue 1 finish and a Coupe de France title, with Adrien Thomasson, Mamadou Sangaré, Malang Sarr, Wesley Saïd and Allan Saint-Maximin all departing, according to France 24 and Eurosport. But the core of the squad, including breakout performers like Robin Risser, Florian Thauvin and Wuilker Faríñez Udol, remains intact.
Dino Toppmöller, who replaced Pierre Sage on the Lens bench after Sage's departure, faces his first major test as head coach. "Lens n'a jamais gagné ce titre, ça veut dire que tous les joueurs ont la possibilité de marquer l'histoire du club," Toppmöller said, according to France 24, stressing the need to manage pressing moments and defend compactly against a Paris side that punishes space. PSG, for its part, holds the competition record with 14 Trophée des Champions titles, including the last four editions in a row.
Lens will be without top scorer Odsonne Édouard, who was left off the matchday squad as a precaution after feeling discomfort in his adductor during last Saturday's 0-2 win over Sunderland on Bollaert's dry pitch, L'Équipe reported. Édouard had given reassuring signals in Saturday's training session, but the club's medical staff opted for caution. In his place, newly loaned Croatian international Franjo Ivanovic, who officially joined from Benfica on Wednesday, starts at center-forward alongside Abdallah Sima and captain Florian Thauvin. In midfield, Algerian international Yacine Titraoui partners Michaël Cuisance, while Risser starts in goal.
On the Paris side, the headline team news is the arrival of Ferran Torres, unveiled by the club Saturday morning and already training with the squad. According to a source close to the club cited by France 24, the versatile forward signed for 45 million euros on a contract running through 2031. Torres, who built his reputation in possession-based systems at Manchester City, Barcelona and with the Spanish national team, fits the profile Enrique favors and could see his first minutes in Paris colors against Lens, in an attack likely still led by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, described by France 24 as the fittest of Paris's front-line options heading into the match.
Beyond the lineups, the fixture carries unresolved tension from last season. The two clubs' matchday 29 fixture in Ligue 1 was postponed from April to May to give PSG extra rest between two Champions League matches against Liverpool, a decision that, according to Eurosport, went down badly with Lens's board and supporters alike. By the time the match was finally played, the title race had already been settled, and Paris won 2-0 in what both outlets described as a largely inconsequential game. The episode reopened old wounds for some Lens fans tied to the 2008 Coupe de la Ligue final, when a banner from Paris ultras mocking the region's residents sparked national controversy.
Those old grievances will not spill into the stands this weekend: the Collectif Ultras Paris has opted to boycott the trip north entirely, citing an inadequate allocation of tickets for the away section and reiterating its position that fixtures like this should be played on neutral ground, Eurosport reported. That stance conveniently overlooks the 2024 edition of the Trophée des Champions, which PSG hosted and won 2-0 against Toulouse at the Parc des Princes. This year, organizers initially explored staging the match abroad before settling on France once the Stade de France proved unavailable, ultimately deciding the venue by a draw between the two clubs' stadiums.
Despite Lens's home advantage and freshness, Paris remains the clear favorite in the eyes of both camps. "Ils viennent de gagner deux fois la Ligue des champions, c'est la meilleure équipe d'Europe actuellement, il n'y a plus trop de débats," Thauvin said, according to Eurosport. "On sait qu'ils sont favoris, mais on fera du Lens, on donnera le maximum comme toujours." Enrique, for his part, does not expect an easy afternoon at Bollaert. "Demain on va jouer l'un des matchs les plus difficiles de la saison contre Lens dans un stade incroyable," he said. "On connaît les difficultés de performer là-bas."
