Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco return to France on Monday from Qatar to face a gruelling six games in 17 and 19 days respectively in Ligue 1, Coupe de France and the Champions Leauge that will define the success of their seasons.
On Sunday night at the 974 Stadium in Doha, PSG beat Monaco to claim the 2025 Tropheé des Champions. It was a record-extending 13th success for PSG in a competition that has been played in various guises since 1949 between the first division champions and the winners of the Coupe de France.
In the 2024 final against Toulouse at the Parc des Princes, Kang-in Lee and Kylian Mbappé were on target for PSG, the Ligue 1 champions. A year later and some 6,000 kilometres away from western Paris, Ousmane Dembélé scored PSG's winner in stoppage time.
"It was a very difficult match, against an opponent with some very high quality players," PSG boss Luis Enrique told the club's TV station after the game in Doha.
"Winning a trophy is always a source of joy," Enrique added. "Starting 2025 in this way gives us a boost and confidence, so we have to take advantage of it and think about the future."
Indeed. The coming weeks will be action packed. Next Sunday, PSG will host Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1 aiming to maintain their seven-point advantage over second placed Marseille who thrashed Le Havre 5-1 on Sunday night.
On 15 January, PSG will continue the defence of their Coupe de France crown in the last 32 at fifth tier Espaly. Three days later, they travel to Lens for a Ligue 1 clash and on 22 January, Enrique will steer his men through their penultimate game in the group stages of the 2024/25 Champions League tournament.
Last season PSG reached the semi-finals but they have struggled in the new format of this year's campaign. Gone are the eight pools of four teams with the top two advancing to the last-16.
This year, the sides in a 36-team division play eight games. The top eight qualify automatically for the last-16 knockout stages and the 16 teams finishing ninth to 24th advance to a two-match play-off for the remaining eight slots.
Chance
With only seven points from their six games, PSG lie in 25th place and a defeat to Manchester City could jeopardise their chances of obtaining one of those play-off berths.
Whatever the result of the game with City, the Ligue 1 match against Reims on 25 January will be overshadowed by the trip to Stuttgart for the final game in the Champions League on 29 January.
Before the victory in Doha, Enrique claimed the schedule was a symbol of his side's success. "It is marvellous that we will play so many games," the 54-year-old Spaniard told PSG TV. "The more matches the better. That means we are alive in many competitions."
His Monaco counterpart, Adi Hütter, received a boost before the Doha showdown by signing a new deal that will keep him with the club until 30 June 2027.
"AS Monaco are delighted to announce the extension of Adi Hütter's contract for a further two seasons," beamed a club statement on Saturday.
Success
The 54-year-old Austrian arrived at the Stade Louis II in July 2023 after leading RB Salzburg to the title in Austria in 2015 and then three years later guiding Young Boys Bern to the Swiss crown.
A runners-up slot behind PSG at the end of the 2023/24 season furnished Monaco with a place in the Champions League where, in contrast to PSG, they have flourished.
Monaco boast 10 points from their six games and after a trip to Nantes in Ligue 1 on 10 January, they take on Reims in the last 32 of the Coupe de France and Montpellier in Ligue 1 on 17 January.
They host Premier League Aston Villa in their crunch Champions League tie on 21 January before entertaining Rennes in Ligue 1 on 25 January and then turning out at Inter Milan on 29 January for their final game in the Champions League.
"When you lose a match in the last minutes, the feeling that dominates is always disappointment," lamented Hütter after the defeat in Doha. "I'm happy with what the players did during the the match because we fought until the end.
"When you look at the whole match, Paris Saint-Germain deserved the victory because they had many more chances than us.
"But now we must raise our heads and think about the next match against Nantes."
