Why Nice and AS Monaco cannot beat PSG to win Ligue 1

PSG is undergoing one of its most challenging seasons as a club in domestic and European competitions.

The Parisians have been the dominant club in France for much of the last decade, and it has been extremely difficult for any domestic side to come near them.

They have more money than any other club in the French top flight, and it shows in the quality of players that they sign.

In Ligue 1, only PSG could afford the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar alongside Kylian Mbappe, but the Frenchman is the only remaining superstar at the club.

The arrival of Neymar in 2017 signalled the start of a project intended to make the Parisians champions of Europe as they were bored of winning just the French Ligue 1.

Kylian Mbappe would join him a year later, and Lionel Messi moved there in 2021 after his contract at Barcelona expired.

Over the years, PSG fans cannot say their team has not played with Swagger, and they certainly cannot complain about their performance in domestic competitions.

Since 2013, PSG has won nine of the 13 league titles available in France, but there have been occasions where teams like Lille and AS Monaco have stopped them from being champions.

In the 2023/2024 term, it seems that could repeat itself as well, with the Parisians struggling with the change that happened to them in the summer.

The loss of Lionel Messi and Neymar.

When Messi moved to Paris, PSG automatically had one of the best front-threes in Europe in Mbappe, Messi and Neymar.

These players have won the Champions League and the World Cup, so it was hard not to see the Parisians conquer Europe.

But it did not turn out that way, and the two terms Messi spent at the club were full of turbulence on and off the pitch.

The Argentinian did a good job, but not winning the Champions League was considered a terrible sin and he suffered attacks on and off the pitch despite being one of their best players.

His departure and that of Neymar in the last transfer window was supposed to be a new beginning for the Parisians under Luis Enrique, but it has been tough.

Nice and Monaco are taking good advantage of PSG’s struggles to make a very good start to the term.

At this early stage, it seems one of them will win the league as Enrique finds out more about his players in his first season in France, but the Parisians have a better chance of retaining the title.

Every supporter who buys PSG tickets knows they have the strongest team in Ligue 1, and we explain why the likes of Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele will retain the league title.

The Best squad in the league

France is struggling behind most of the other European leagues in terms of the quality of players, and French clubs rarely compete for the best talents.

However, PSG is in a league of theirs and has continued to bolster their group with the best men on offer.

The Parisians lost Neymar and Messi in the last transfer window, two players whose departure could have spelt trouble to the club in the league.

However, they splashed the cash on the likes of Marco Asensio, Randal Kolo Muani, Goncalo Ramos and Ousmane Dembele, among others.

In defence, they can field the likes of Milan Skriniar, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe.

The entire PSG squad could compete and win the Premier League if they were in England, and this makes them easily the best side in France by a huge margin.

They have not had the best of starts to the 2023/2024 term, but it is difficult not to see them win the league by next summer.

There will be tougher days, but the Parisians are constantly improving and when they hit top form, they will be unstoppable by anyone in the league.

Kylian Mbappe’s last season

PSG banished Kylian Mbappe in the summer and wanted to sell the Frenchman after he informed them that he would not sign a new deal at the club.

He is still on course to end this campaign as a free agent, and everyone expects him to move to Real Madrid.

The Madridistas have created a team that needs Mbappe to complete, and the Frenchman seems to be heading there, but he will not want to leave PSG without winning another league title.

Mbappe is the main striker at the club, and his departure will cost PSG more than the likes of Neymar and Messi.

The Champions League is the ultimate target for the 2018 World Cup winner and he could win it for the Parisians this term, but he certainly will want to end his spell in Paris with another league crown. This should be an advantage to his employers in the title race.

Luis Enrique’s experience

Luis Enrique came to Paris after a poor spell as the manager of the Spain national team, and the Spanish gaffer is a successful coach in European football.

Before his move to France, he coached Barcelona and was the last manager to win the Champions League for them in 2015.

He won two league titles, the Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup as the manager of Barcelona.

Enrique is one of the most successful Spanish managers around, and he knows how to train a team of top players.

This alone is a huge advantage to PSG, as a better manager is a bigger assurance of winning the league.

Nice and AS Monaco have respected managers in charge of their teams and have done well at the beginning of the term.

However, winning the league is a marathon and by the business end of the campaign, experience will count more than anything else.

When that time comes, Enrique’s experience will be pivotal in navigating a tough end to the campaign, which is an advantage that could win the league for PSG.

PSG has more Ligue 1 title winners than any other challenge

The current PSG team has the most successful players in the French top flight, and this puts them in an advantageous position to retain the league.

PSG has been winning the title for much of the last decade, and because they are not a selling club, they have kept most of their top men.

Money is not a problem in Paris, and it helps to keep the best players at the club happy, so none has left because he did not feel happy.

The new stars will come into a dressing room filled with Ligue 1 veterans who have been very successful in the last few terms.

This makes it easy for them to adopt the winners’ mindset at the club, and the manager will also do less work in conditioning the team to play like winners.

PSG is facing a serious threat to their Ligue 1 dominance from Nice and AS Monaco, but the Parisians have what they need to win the league still this term.

This does not mean the challenge from the other two should be underestimated, but if PSG players are at their best mentally and perform to high standards on the pitch, they will win the league again.

However, if they continue to drop points in matches they should win, it will ultimately cost them because the other two clubs know they must keep winning.