How PSG balanced intensity and recovery to hit peak form this spring | OneFootball

After a curtailed close season and minimal pre-season work, doubts surrounded PSG’s fitness. According to L'Équipe, spring has eased those worries as Luis Enrique’s side hit their stride again.

Tuesday’s 2-0 quarter-final win at Liverpool, with Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia harrying Ibrahima Konaté late on, underlined restored sharpness. Through the winter, Enrique kept to upbeat messaging, often dismissed as wishful thinking.

He argued fatigue was only one factor and neither methods nor planning changed. The target peak was March, with medical calls respected, strict nutrition and granular data guiding individual minutes.

Paris have mixed intense sessions with proper rest, helped by Ligue 1 games against Nantes on 22 April and Lens on 13 May being moved between the first and second legs of the last 16 and the quarter-finals. Recovery is built into training, off days are scheduled, and work at the Campus is full tilt.

One senior figure says the balance between rest and demanding sessions helps them peak. Others note there have still been two injuries, that players such as Ousmane Dembélé adapt their running, and that the semi-final will be the real test.

Return-to-play has been tightened after autumn relapses for Désiré Doué and Dembélé. News on Nuno Mendes was reassuring and he should rest on Sunday for Lyon at 20:45, and Enrique should also give minutes to those used less recently.

Source: L'Équipe