PSG v Auxerre: Pélissier "lucky" to face European champions!

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·25 September 2025

PSG v Auxerre: Pélissier "lucky" to face European champions!

This Saturday at 9:05 pm (broadcast on Ligue1+), Paris Saint-Germain (2nd) will face Auxerre (10th) at the Parc des Princes as part of the 6th matchday of Ligue 1 2025-2026. In a press conference, Christophe Pélissier, Auxerre's coach, spoke about this match and the Parisian opponent.

Pelissier: “We’re not playing our league in this match”

“It’s a privilege to be able to play the best team in Europe, maybe even in the world, and on top of that, in their own stadium. We’re not playing our league in this match, there’s no particular pressure, except to put up a good fight. But I rarely talk about what happened last season. Already, these aren’t the same players. There’s not even a comparison to be made. PSG have become champions of Europe. In terms of confidence and mentality, it’s something extraordinary. You have to see it a bit like a Coupe de France match, David versus Goliath. That’s how it is for all the other clubs, even in Europe. I watched the match against Atalanta (4-0 win in the Champions League opener), which was a non-contest.”

Pelissier: “It’s often the Parisians who set the tempo”

This team is capable of steamrolling everyone, very strong in set attacks, on the wings or in depth, and defensively, they smother their opponent with their counter-pressing. They leave very little. They have technical and athletic quality… It’s often the Parisians who set the tempo. We’re going to have a very tough match, but on our side, it’s a pleasure to play games like this, in such stadiums. Many people would love to be in the players’ shoes. We’ll have to enjoy the moment. We managed to hold Monaco two weeks ago. Now, this is even tougher. We’ll have to do better. In this kind of match, we measure our mindset and our personality.”

Pelissier: “Our league won’t be decided here, but that doesn’t mean we’ll go there as victims”

Against Paris, “it’s 20, 25% possession for the opponent,” predicts Pelissier. “We’ll have to make the most of it and be very united to defend well. We’re not going to revolutionize our way of playing against them. But we mustn’t be afraid to play PSG. These are matches where we have nothing to lose because defeat is logical; it’s up to us to show our qualities. And we have some. Our league won’t be decided here, but that doesn’t mean we’ll go there as victims. We have to be able to try to cause them problems and focus on that. If we don’t raise our game on every level against a team like this, we don’t exist.”

Christophe Pélissier knows the gap that separates his Auxerre from Paris Saint-Germain, especially since the Parisian club conquered the Champions League. But far from resigning himself, the coach insists on the importance of playing this kind of match as a real-life test. For him, facing PSG, “the best team in Europe, maybe even the world,” means accepting to have little of the ball—20 to 25% possession at most—but also the opportunity to measure his group’s solidarity and mindset. Pélissier puts his team in a challenger’s position: recognizing the difference in level, without denying themselves.

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It goes without saying that we’ve heard this kind of speech time and time again. It’s a rite of passage. He has to believe in it, but the only reality will be what we see on the pitch, both in intentions and in quality. Auxerre is going to struggle, that’s inevitable given how much PSG will want to avoid losing two games in a row. That said, it’s an “exceptional” season and so the Parisians will have to be careful not to let several matches slip by, because in the end, those could be the points that matter.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.