13: Paris Saint-Germain’s new lucky number

Matchweek 1, August 12, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 3 v Caen 0
Thomas Tuchel took charge of Paris SG for the first time in Ligue 1 in Matchweek 1 of the 2018/2019 season. The crowd at the Parc des Princes enjoyed a thrilling curtain raiser with the home side opening their account with three goals from Neymar Jr, Rabiot and young striker Timothy Weah.

Matchweek 2, August 18, 2018: Guingamp 1 v Paris Saint-Germain 3
The Parisians’ first road game of the season began precariously, conceding after 20 minutes to a Nolan Roux strike. Just before the hour mark Neymar Jr equalised from the spot, before Kylian Mbappé rounded off the game with two goals to secure a 3-1 victory.

Matchweek 3, August 25, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 3 v Angers 1
Paris Saint-Germain returned home for the last game of August to take on Angers in Matchweek 3. Despite taking a 12th minute lead, the visitors from Western France fought back with a goal less than 10 minutes later from the spot. It took until the 51st minute for the hosts to once again take the lead, which they did through Kylian Mbappé (51’) and Neymar Nr (66’).

Matchweek 4, September 1, 2018: Nîmes 2 v Paris Saint-Germain 4
Newly promoted Nîmes hosted the Ligue 1 Champions on September 1st in what proved to be a thrilling encounter. The team from Paris took a two goal lead before half-time, the highlight of the brace being Ángel Di Maria’s 40th minute goal straight from a corner. The home side came out fighting in the second-half and were rewarded with two goals that brought the game level with 20 minutes left on the clock. Paris Saint-Germain showed the same resolve they’d demonstrated all season with two goals from Mbappé and Cavani to take all three points back to Parc des Princes.

Matchweek 5, September 18, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 4 v St Etienne 0
Paris SG secured their first clean sheet in a month with a resounding win over St. Etienne at the Parc des Princes. Goals from Draxler, Cavani, Di Maria and Diaby stretched the red and blue side’s winning streak to five games.

Matchweek 6, September 23, 2018: Rennes 1 v Paris Saint-Germain 3
29,205 spectators witnessed a Paris Saint-Germain victory at Roazhon Park. After suffering a midweek defeat away to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League, Paris SG, wearing all white, and without the suspended Kylian Mbappé went behind inside 11 minutes. Yet again Thomas Tuchel’s men came back in emphatic fashion, with goals from Di Maria, Muenier, and on 83 minutes, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, bagging his first for the club.

Matchweek 7, September 26, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 4 v Stade de Reims 1

In front of their own fans, Paris recorded their seventh straight victory, moving eight points clear at the top of the table against Stade de Reims. The visitors shocked the Parc des Princes when after just two minutes, Chavalerin put the side in red a goal in front. Calmness was quickly restored when Edinson Cavani equalised just three minutes later, before Neymar Jr and the Uruguayan again scored before the break to put the hosts 3-1 ahead. Shortly after the start of the second half, Thomas Meunier put the game to bed with a fourth, all but sealing the three points.

Matchweek 8, September 29, 2018: Nice 0 v Paris Saint-Germain 3
Matchweek 8 brought an eighth win in a row in a tricky road game for Paris Saint-Germain. The home side used their size and aggression to try and stop the flair of the visitors, employing somewhat illegal tactics in the process. Neymar Jr, himself the recipient of an elbow to the face that left the Brazilian needing treatment and Nice down to 10 men, responded superbly, scoring a sublime opening goal. Later, the #10 would round off the game in injury time, but not before Christopher Nkunku grabbed a goal for himself after 46 minutes. The game saw Paris extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1, and saw Neymar Jr reach the summit of the goal-scoring charts with seven league goals to his name.

Matchweek 9, October 7th, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 5 v Lyon 0
It was the Kylian Mbappé show at the Parc des Princes on 7th October. After Neymar Jr opened the scoring from the spot after nine minutes, the Frenchman scored an incredible four goals in just thirteen minutes to seal off any doubt that the club from the capital wouldn’t extend their winning form to nine games.

Matchweek 10, October 24th, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 5 v Amiens 0
After the international break, Paris Saint-Germain once again entertained their own fans at the Parc des Princes, and once again they put five past their opponents with no return. The difference from the previous game where Kylian Mbappé had ran riot against Lyon was that each of the home side’s five goals came from different scorers. Marquinhos, Rabiot, Draxler, Mbappé and Diaby each got their name on the scoresheet in a landmark 10th win of the season.

Matchweek 11, October 28th, 2018: Marseille 0 v Paris Saint-Germain 2
At the end of October, Paris Saint-Germain traveled to the Stade Vélodrome for Le Classique against Marseille; their biggest game of the season so far. History had produced some huge battles between the two sides, and it’s a game neither side could afford to lose. Under the pressure of maintaining their winning run away in one of the most intense atmospheres in Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain held their own and after a tight first hour, took the lead from that man again; Kylian Mbappé. Despite a hard-fought second half from the home side, it was the visitors who were able to claim that vital second goal, Julian Draxler scoring in injury time to put the game to bed.

Matchweek 12, November 2nd, 2018: Paris Saint-Germain 2 v Lille 1
As October turned to November, many pundits expected the league leaders to run out of steam, after facing their biggest rivals in Marseille, Les Rouge-et-Bleu faced another huge test on a Friday night home match that featured Ligue 1’s top two sides. If there was any fatigue from the players after just four days off, it didn’t show. Despite Lille proving tough to break down, putting man after man behind the ball in an effort to keep out the Parisians, Thomas Tuchel’s attacking force of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr eventually found the breakthrough. On 70 and 84 minutes respectively, the pair put their side ahead. A late consolation from the penalty spot for the visitors was just that. 11 wins in a row turned to a record breaking 12, as Paris Saint-Germain strode further towards the league title.

Matchweek 13, November 11th, 2018: AS Monaco 0 v Paris Saint-Germain 4
Before the international break, the league leaders had two big tasks ahead of them. After Le Classique and the tough game against their fellow title-chasers, Thomas Tuchel took his men to Naples for a tough UEFA Champions League tie that would see them bring a valuable point back to Paris, despite being deserving of all three. Following the tough physical encounter, Tuchel was forced to rotate his squad, yet despite resting the likes of Gianluigi Buffon and Marco Verratti, his side shone as Paris recorded a stunning 13th victory in a row. The game didn’t pass without incident, with two early goals from Edinson Cavani both being ruled out for offside, before the decision being overturned after VAR consultation. A 53rd minute strike to seal his hat-trick game was confirmed in a similar form, with an off-side decision overruled to allow the goal to stand. Just after the hour mark, Neymar Jr calmly slotted home from the spot. Thirteen games played, thirteen wins. Paris Saint-Germain hope to make it 14/14 when they play Toulouse at the Parc des Princes on November 24th.