PSG flexed their muscles, bringing Ferran Torres off the bench to save the day, but only because Rennes made them
On the scale of expressions of prowess and power, Paris Saint-Germain bringing almost €150m worth of attacking talent off the bench – including the man who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final last month – ranks only a couple of rungs below the level of the extravagant aggression of a military parade. Imposing, dominating, re-asserting, this wasn’t about expression but necessity as the reigning European champions initially floundered against a Rennes team that lived up to their billing as the best of the rest in Ligue 1.
PSG were forced into rolling out their new attacking arsenal early. For 45 minutes, Rennes’ incessant pressing and fluidity in transition had Luis Enrique’s side under duress. Sebastien Szymanski opened the scoring with a sliced effort from outside the box that clipped in off the inside of a post.
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