A familiar face will hope to make it another frustrating day for Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday as the champions play their first home game of the new Ligue 1 season against SC Bastia.
The Corsicans are now coached by former France midfielder Claude Makelele, who gave up his position as Laurent Blanc’s assistant at the Parc des Princes to become a coach in his own right.
Makelele also finished his playing career as captain of PSG and his presence on the opposition bench adds extra intrigue to a game that carries real importance to the hosts after they kicked off the campaign with a 2-2 draw at Reims.
PSG, who have now failed to win their opening game in any of the four seasons since the Qatari takeover in the capital, were dealt a blow on Monday when captain Thiago Silva suffered a hamstring injury in a 2-1 friendly victory against Napoli that will rule him out for several weeks.
Blanc has been criticised for bringing Silva back so soon after he was afforded a long summer break, and he may now be tempted to give new recruit David Luiz a little longer to build up his fitness.
On the prospect of coming up against his old assistant, he added: “I didn’t expect him to leave us but I am not disappointed. It was his wish, his choice to seize the opportunity.”
There are seven new coaches in Ligue 1 this season and the only one to lose on his debut was Leonardo Jardim, whose Monaco side were beaten 2-1 at home by Lorient despite seeing fit-again Radamel Falcao come off the bench and score a penalty.
They will look to bounce back at Bordeaux, whose new coach Willy Sagnol is a former Monaco player.
