PSG players head to international break after successful autumn period
After what has been an extremely successful autumn period, a number of PSG players are now heading off for international duty, with stars such as Achraf Hakimi, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha and Desiré Doué all among those who will now play for their countries over the international break.
PSG's situation since the last break has drastically altered: they were then struggling for form, after a poor start to their Ligue 1 campaign which saw them fail to win any of their first three league games, as well as losing in the Trophée des Champions to Lens. However their upturn in form since that point has been nothing short of exemplary: they have won every game across all competitions since that point, including highly impressive Champions League wins against Manchester City and Barcelona.
Indeed, there will be a feel in the Parisian camp that this run of form bodes extremely well for their chances of winning a third consecutive Champions League trophy. PSG's football looks just as fluid as ever, with Luis Enrique's now trademark positional rotations evident across the field: no side in Europe is seemingly able to contain the Champions League holders, whose physical and technical excellence across the board is remarkable to witness. Performances like their obliteration of Villarreal in the Champions League might even suggest that this iteration of Enrique's side might somehow be even more fine tuned than the previous two sides that have won the last two Champions Leagues.
However there have been some small injury set backs over this period, with Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia being the two most notable examples, the latter of whom now seems set to miss the majority of the season. Mika Godts, signed over the summer from Ajax, has proved to be an interesting addition on the left hand side in the Georgian's absence, and other summer additions such as Maghnes Akliouche and Ferran Torres are also starting to bed into PSG's system, meaning the injuries have not affected PSG's red hot form so far.
Over the international break, PSG's manager and staff will be hoping to avoid any further injuries as the players head off to represent their respective countries. Most of the players will be featuring across two games in this November break - a shorter two week break as opposed to the three week system trialled over September - with the European players featuring in Nations League fixtures and Achraf Hakimi being involved in Afcon qualifers for Morocco against Niger.
After the break, PSG will look to continue their fine form in games against Nice in Ligue 1, and then against Roma in the Champions league. PSG now sit top of the table in both competitions and already seem fairly assured of a top eight place in the European competition, something that they managed in neither of the previous two campaigns, in which they had to go through the play off system.
