Trophée des Champions: PSG eye record win in China

The dominant Olympique Lyonnais side of the first decade of the millennium picked up seven successive league titles and six straight Trophées des Champions between 2002 and 2007.

Paris Saint-Germain can match that impressive tally – and draw level with OL on eight triumphs overall in the season opener – with victory in China where new coach Thomas Tuchel will pit his wits against domestic opposition in a competitive game for the first time. The freshly appointed former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss has a huge act to follow in Unai Emery, who left the club during the summer having claimed all four domestic trophies on offer last season.

Big shoes

The new Arsenal boss’ clean sweep of French football’s silverware started with a 2-1 win over Monaco – the 2016-17 Ligue 1 Conforama champions, and last season’s runners-up – in front of more than 43,000 in the Moroccan city of Tangier. Tuchel will be expected to deliver nothing less as he embarks on his mission to maintain PSG’s lustre at home and polish up their reputation in European competition.

France’s successful run to the FIFA World Cup final means Tuchel will be without rampaging forward Kylian Mbappé; centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, who was an assured part of last season’s back four; and Alphonse Areola, who was first-choice goalkeeper under Emery – all of whom will be enjoying a much-deserved holiday. Meanwhile, star striker and reigning Ligue 1 Conforama top scorer Edinson Cavani, still suffering from an injury picked up in his star turn for Uruguay at the World Cup – will miss the clash.

Superstar

The latter’s absence will be compensated for by a significant summer signing: Gianluigi Buffon. It may take some time even for PSG fans to believe the legendary Italian is wearing their colours, but they can be certain his arrival confirms his new club’s status as a European heavyweight.

Belgium full-back Thomas Meunier will also still be recovering from his exertions in reaching the last four of the global showpiece in Russia, but Dani Alves, who scored one of PSG’s goals in their 2017 Trophée des Champions win on what was his competitive debut for the club, could be back from the knee injury that saw him spend his summer on the sofa rather than in the yellow shirt of the Seleçao.

AS Moanco: Litmus test

For AS Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim, the game will present a first opportunity to see where his team stands in relation to the club that wrested the league title back from their grasp last term.

Last season, the Portuguese tactician had to contend with the massive bloodletting that saw Mbappé – among many others – leave the Stade Louis II in summer 2017, and has again lost two major components of the club’s recent successes: Thomas Lemar and Fabinho, who have joined Atletico Madrid and Liverpool respectively.

But Monaco have also pursued their strategy of bringing young potential to Le Rocher. Full-back Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel has come in from Saint-Etienne, promising forward Samuel Grandsir has swapped Troyes for the Mediterranean coast and highly rated talent Willem Geubbels has opted to take the next step in his fledgling career under Jardim after emerging at Lyon’s renowned youth academy. Furthermore, the principality club pulled off a coup by pipping Chelsea to the signature of 22-year-old Russia’s World Cup midfield star Aleksandr Golovin.

Road trip!

Whoever takes to the pitch, both sides will be desperate to get their seasons off to a positive start in Shenzen, the venue for the next two Trophées des Champions and the second Chinese city in which the competition has been played after PSG’s triumph over En Avant Guingamp in Beijing in 2013-14.

The match – contested by the previous season’s Ligue 1 Conforama champions and the Coupe de France winners – or the league runners-up if the champions win the Coupe as well – will be played beyond France’s borders for the tenth time. The first saw Girondins de Bordeaux defeat En Avant Guingamp in the Canadian city of Montreal in 2009.