Work, rigour and good humour: three intense days in Faro
Paris Saint-Germain headed to Faro, southern Portugal, for a training camp in the lead-up to their big date in Lisbon. A look back over these three days.
The Paris Saint-Germain players arrived in Faro at the start of the day on Saturday and immediately went to their hotel and got settled before heading to the training centre - just a few minutes from their base camp - in the afternoon.
Making the most of the modern facilities, the Paris Saint-Germain players were able to carry out three intensive sessions during the three days of training.
During these sessions, Layvin Kurzawa and Kylian Mbappé, in particular, were able to continue their recovery programme, while Thilo Kehrer made his return to the collective sessions. It should be noted that Marco Verratti, who remained in Paris for treatment, will join the rest of the group in the Portuguese capital.
Thomas Tuchel and his staff conducted sessions at the end of the day - when the temperature finally dropped below 30° C - allowing his staff to alternate sessions of passing, tactical set-up and physical work. The aim: to be at the top of their game - both individually and collectively - before arriving in Lisbon.
Check out our Le Mag episode from Faro
"This is the first time we've ever taken a four- or five-month break like this. We've had to adapt our efforts and our movements. It was unprecedented, but we have to remain confident in the way we prepare the team. Normally a season doesn't start with a final right after pre-season, but that's what we had to do. That's the way it is. It's a big challenge for the team and the whole staff. We rose to the first challenges and now I expect the 90 minutes to be very difficult against them," said Thomas Tuchel, referring to the Parisian victories in the Coupe de France (against Saint-Etienne) and the Coupe de la Ligue BKT (against Lyon) a few days ago.
« C’est la toute première fois que nous faisons une pause de quatre ou cinq mois comme ça. Nous avons dû adapter nos efforts et nos mouvements, c’était inédit, mais nous devons rester confiants dans la façon dont nous préparons l’équipe. Normalement, une saison ne démarre pas avec une finale juste après la période de préparation, mais c’est ce que nous avons dû faire. C'est comme ça. C’est un grand défi pour l’équipe et pour l’ensemble du staff. Nous avons relevé les premiers défis et désormais, je m’attends à ce que ces 90 minutes soient très difficiles contre eux », nous a confié Thomas Tuchel, faisant référence aux victoires parisiennes en Coupe de France (face à Saint-Étienne) et en Coupe de la Ligue (face à Lyon), il y a quelques jours.
And while rigour, application and effort were the watchwords of these three days, the group also enjoyed some more light-hearted moments on the training grounds. Les Rouge et Bleus got to see how Mauro Icardi would fare as a goalkeeper while Presnel Kimpembe and Keylor Navas practised dribbling in a relaxed atmosphere.
Mention spéciale pour la qualité du pied gauche d’Ander Herrera.
When you realise you are left footed but you are already 30 years old... 🤦🏻♂️😝@neymarjr @MauroIcardi pic.twitter.com/iAFChAhx7k
— Ander Herrera (@AnderHerrera) August 8, 2020
Long moments of good humour at the hotel where, between the care provided by the staff and the roadmap held by the team, the players were also able to share moments of relaxation.
"It's a great squad. As a team, we were able to develop a good cohesion. It's a very important part of forming a good group because in good times and bad, you have to show that you are united," explained Pablo Sarabia on PSG TV.
Leonardo and Jean-Claude Blanc joined the rest of the Parisian delegation on Tuesday for the final day of the Paris Saint-Germain in Faro, after having been in Auxerre the day before for the final of the French Cup for Parisian women.
Now the entire Ile-de-France squad is leaving Portugal's Algarve region for the capital city of Lisbon, where the players will have a chance to take to the pitch at the Estádio da Luz for their traditional pre-match training session.