Reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain face Lille on Sunday night, a familiar foe for the capital side’s new manager.
Christophe Galtier famously led Lille to the 2021 Ligue 1 title, knocking PSG off their lofty perch with a wage bill nine times smaller than that of their rivals. Incidentally, Galtier led Nice to a 4-0 victory over Lille on his first return to the Stade Pierre Mauroy last season.
Here’s the PSG XI Galtier may deploy to earn another victory against his former employers.
🔛⚽️ The preparation for the trip to Lille continues!#LOSCPSG I @qatarairways pic.twitter.com/uk1Lm2c9fZ
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 18, 2022
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – During his remarkably rapid ascent up the Italian footballing pyramid, Donnarumma’s mum had to show other parents her son’s ID card to prove his age. Apparently, the bearded custodian is still only 23.
CB: Sergio Ramos – During an injury-hit debut season, Ramos’ hefty wage packet afforded him more than £28,500 for every Ligue 1 minute he played (per Capology).
CB: Marquinhos – When PSG lured Marquinhos away from Roma with just 36 senior appearances to his name, they made the Brazilian the most expensive teenager in history.
CB: Presnel Kimpembe – The left-footed centre-back has been part of Paris Saint-Germain football club since he was nine years old.
RWB: Achraf Hakimi – A goal on the opening weekend of the season ensured Hakimi has scored from full-back under all eight coaches he’s had in his career.
CM: Marco Verratti – Il Gufetto – the Little Owl – has faced Lille more often than any other club in his career (losing just one of his 20 meetings with Les Dogues).
CM: Vitinha – The spiky summer recruit has managed to pick up a yellow card in all three of his appearances for PSG – a rate even Verratti struggles to match.
LWB: Nuno Mendes – Four of Mendes’ teammates earn more in a week than the 19-year-old collects in a year.
RW: Lionel Messi – The legendary Argentine may have endured his worst goalscoring season since his teenage playing days last term – but he did hit the post an unrivalled seven times in Ligue 1.
ST: Kylian Mbappe – In a long-standing club tradition, Mbappe has supposedly embarked upon a feud with Neymar and sulked through the club’s 5-2 romp last weekend.
LW: Neymar – The Brazilian’s tally of six direct goal contributions (three goals, three assists) across the opening fortnight of the season is the highest figure recorded in the last decade and a half of the French top flight.