Paris is perhaps the most productive city for player development in the world. But could you beat one of the richest, most global clubs in football using only players from the City of Lights? Martin Vert has been set that challenge.
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The transfer window slams shut, and I’m quietly quite pleased with our business. The €15m we spent has already been recouped in Champions League tv money, and we have brought our second string up to the standard of our first XI. Of course, it pales in comparison to PSG’s €130m outlay, bringing in the likes of Wuiker Farinez, Saul and Francesco Trincao. They also mock us. They have so much money they even waste some of it on Harry Maguire. But most worrying is the purchase of Real Madrid regen Pedro Martinez. €19m looks like a steal for a player that could dominate Ligue 1 for years to come.
There is an international break, and although a few players get called up for international duty, it gives some of our injured players a chance to get back to fitness. It’s a Champions League month, so it’ll stretch our squad, and the more we can have back in the group the better.
The first match of the month sees rock bottom Strasbourg travel to the Pierre-Brisson. They lost their opening three games to Lens, Lyon and Lille before picking up a decent point against Reims just before the break. Okafor is always a danger, but Peter Stoger hasn’t been able to strengthen at all over the summer so I’d expect us to do well.
Well, Yahia Fofana’s run of clean sheets is broken, nine minutes in, when Meritan Shabani finds some space in the box to fire into the bottom corner. And Strasbourg stay in the match, keeping the big man on his toes, but they aren’t good enough to really compete with us this time. Mara scores just a minute later, turning home a Mukelenge cross, but it takes until the second half to really get going. Brahimi drills home from close range just before the hour, and Mara finishes the game with a penalty with 10 minutes to go. We hit the bar twice in the mix as well, so it’s a deserved win.
It’s the Champions League up next. We shift from the Pierre-Brisson to the luxurious surroundings of the Jean Bouin, and Porto come to visit. They beat us twice last year, and both times we failed to get a look in. But we’re a different side now. We are taking it seriously, we have depth, and we don’t fear them. Look at the size of Yahia Fofana’s hands. Look at the size, in general, of Ousmane Camara. We’re up for this. The Jean-Bouin is sold out, we’re ready for them. It’s time to tell Europe who we are.
Get the fuck in. We aren’t just victorious, we put our stamp on the game like it’s a letter to our aunt. Porto move the ball around well, but they just can’t compete with our physicality, and where it matters we have the quality. We win a free kick on the edge of the area, and Brahimi just belts it. It crashes against the bar, straight down, straight up, off the bar again and in. Amadou Traore gets in on the act just before half time, drilling into the bottom corner. Brahimi scores an own goal right before the break, but we fall back to our defensive shape for the second half and stifle the game. Three points, and we’re off and running.
There’s no rest for the wicked, and we’re straight back into action at the weekend against Montpellier. They have had a total turnaround in the off season, and aren’t anything like the side we played last year at all. Fernando Torres has been brought in as manager, and oversaw the sale or release of 11 players, including danger man Stephy Mavididi. 15 came in to replace them, but they haven’t gelled, and they have lost four on the bounce since an opening day draw with Saint Etienne. We are all changed, but I expect a result.
Torres has his side set up to be difficult to beat, packing out the midfield in an ultra-defensive 4141. And for the first half, it works. They frustrate us and threaten on the break, even though we dominate possession and look the more dangerous. I drive the lads on even harder at half time, and eventually the resistance crumbles. Tattevin gets on the end of a long Goncalves ball for the first, VAR assisted, and then Benrahou smashes home a Doukansy through ball for the second. We shut up shop, see it out, and take our three points.
Another midweek fixture comes at us fast, this time against CFG backed Troyes. They haven’t started the season well, and find themselves down near the relegation zone, but they have too much quality to stay there. Savo Milosevic has been backed in the transfer window again, bringing in 10 players, and they’re just taking their time to gel, I’m sure. We’ll need another good performance to continue our winning start.
Well, there are good performances, and then there’s that. We are unbelievable, and Troyes are chasing shadows for most of the game. Mara wins a penalty in just the second minute and converts it himself, before Camara powers home a Brahimi corner. Before half an hour it’s three, as Mara nods a corner back across the box, and Diarra finishes. Ripart gets one back for the visitors, but we regroup for the second half and nab two more. 5-1, and you can’t argue with that.
We finish the month against Brest, who were promoted from Ligue 2 last season as champions, but who have also undergone a major player turnover in the summer and find themselves in the relegation zone. They have lost five of their opening seven games, and are without a win, but picked up good draws against Lyon and Marseille which demonstrates that, on their day, they can mix it with anybody. But we aren’t just anybody, we are bloody Red Star, and we aren’t here to mess around.
That was hard work, much harder than it should have been, but we scrap our way to another win. Brest put us on the back foot and are dangerous throughout; this is much more the side that drew with Lyon than the side that have lost five. We are lucky that every time they do break through their forwards are disappointing, either tamely passing straight to Fofana or blasting miles over the bar. We aren’t just defending, and our attacks are coming to nothing, and when we hit each post in two minutes I think it’s just not going to be our day. But finally, a corner breaks our way. Benrahou curls it in and big Bitshiabu glances a header beyond the goalkeeper. They throw everything forward, which gives Daclinat the space to make it look more comfortable late on.
It’s been another great month, a 100% month, and it gives us a five-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. And our first ever European win. Which is amazing. But October will be a key month, what with two Champions League games, two of our domestic European contenders, and a visit from PSG…
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