PSG's Luis Enrique Optimistic Despite Ramos Setback, Targets Champions League Success

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Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique is confident his players can adapt in the absence of Goncalo Ramos to continue their impressive start to the season. PSG have taken to life without Kylian Mbappe with ease, scoring 10 goals in their first two Ligue 1 fixtures, equalling their highest tally after two games played (also in 2022-23).

The Parisiens have welcomed four new faces during the transfer window, signing Joao Neves, Desire Doue, William Pacho and Matvei Safonov. Luis Enrique was dealt a blow, however, in PSG's opener against Le Harve, with striker Ramos forced off with an injury that will cause him to miss three months.

But in his absence, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele have starred in front of goal, with Luis Enrique now focused on bringing the best out of the players available. "We want to sign players, and their prices were very high. I have the players I have, I'm happy with their level, now I have to develop their potential," Luis Enrique said.

"As a nine, we can play with [Marco] Asensio, Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Barcola, Ramos, Warren [Zaire-Emery], [Achraf] Hakimi, Vitinha, Fabian [Ruiz], Neves... that's 10. It's the same with the defenders. I've got some very versatile players, which fits in with the plan we wanted for this team," he added.

Pacho, Doue and Neves can play in lots of different roles... so I have a lot of options in my team.

Champions League Challenges

PSG will seek to claim an elusive Champions League trophy once again this season but have been handed a difficult draw in the competition's new league phase. Luis Enrique's side will face Girona in their first game in the competition but will also square off against European heavyweights Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.

"My impression of the draw is that it's a new competition, a new format," Luis Enrique said. "It's obvious that statistically we were the least favoured but I can't judge this competition because we don't know it. We'll say that this is a competition that we're going to try out and we've been the least lucky."

Despite these challenges, PSG remains optimistic about their prospects both domestically and internationally as they aim for success on all fronts this season.