Paris Saint-Germain will do battle with Rennes in France’s curtain-raiser for the Ligue 1 season, the Trophee des Champions, which takes place in Shenzhen.
Neymar is back training with the French champions after a summer in which he has reportedly tried to engineer a move away from the club, which is unbeaten in four summer friendlies if a penalty shootout loss to Inter is discounted.
Rennes, meanwhile, come into this match aiming to replicate the success they had over PSG in the Coupe de France final, when they claimed a 6-5 victory in a shootout after fighting back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
| Game | Paris Saint-Germain vs Rennes |
| Date | Saturday, August 3 |
| Time | 12:30pm BST / 7:30am ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
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In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| beIN Sports / beIN Sports en Espanol | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be available to watch on BT Sport 3. It can be streamed via BT Sport Live.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BT Sport 3 | BT Sport Live |
Squads & Team News
| Position | PSG squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Areola, Trapp, Innocent, Bulka |
| Defenders | Meunier, Kehrer, Kurzawa, Bernat, Nsoki, Mbe Soh, Zagre, Bakker, Kouassi, Hemans, Yapi, Dagba, Diallo |
| Midfielders | Sarabia, Verratti, Herrera, Aouchiche, Toufiqui |
| Forwards | Mbappe, Jese, Guclu, Cavani |
PSG starting XI: Areola; Meunier, Kehrer, Diallo, Bernat; Marquinhos (c), Herrera, Verratti; Sarabia, Cavani, Mbappe.
| Position | Rennes squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Koubek, Salin |
| Defenders | Boey, Soppy, Gelin, Da Silva, Nyamsi, Morel |
| Midfielders | Johansson, Lea-Siliki, Camavinga, Gboho, Bourigeaud, Trouillet, Grenier, Da Cunha, Maouassa |
| Forwards | Tait, Hunou, Del Castillo |
Rennes starting XI: Koubek, Da Silva, Maouassa, Morel, Grenier, Lea Siliki, Bourigeaud, Camavinga, Tait, Gelin, Hunou
Betting & Match Odds
PSG are 1/4 at Bet365 to win this match. Rennes are 9/1 to claim the victory, while a repeat of the Coupe de France final draw through 90 minutes can be backed at 5/1.
Match Preview
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Paris Saint-Germain go chasing a record seventh successive Trophee des Champions, having lifted the season-opening silverware every year since 2013.
This particular event in Shenzhen, though, promises to be a rather low-key affair due to the volume of players unavailable having recently returned from international duty over the summer. PSG are deprived of their South American contingent, while the Africans that make up the bulk of Rennes’ star players will not be present.
PSG have been in the Far East acclimatising for over a week and have taken the opportunity to play a couple of friendly matches. First, they drew 1-1 with Inter then on Tuesday they swept past Sydney FC 3-0 thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Metehan Guclu.
For Mbappe, such pre-season trips are more than what about what happens on the field.
“Living together is important,” he told the club’s official website. “We’re all team-mates and we’re going to spend a long season together. It’s one of the targets to integrate the new players so they can feel at home and give the best of themselves for the team. It’s beneficial to everyone.
“It’s very important but I don’t think there’s been a problem with the new players. The whole squad appreciates them. It’s a good start.”
Abdou Diallo, Pablo Sarabia and Ander Herrera are all in line to feature for PSG in a competitive environment for the first time at the weekend against opponents who denied their side the Coupe de France trophy in April.
For Rennes, who have just travelled to China for this match, it is an unusual experience, both in terms of the stage and the setting.
Never before have the Breton team challenged for the Trophee des Champions in its current guise, having gone without silverware since 1983, while the experience of playing in an exotic location is one alien to many of the players.
“It’s a little stuffy, it’s hot and it’s wet, but we’ll get used to it,” captain Damien de Silva said.
Julien Stephan’s side showed on several occasions last term just how dangerous they can be, scoring a 3-1 Europa League win at home over Arsenal, for example, but they will have to be on their mettle immediately this season if they are to halt PSG’s record-breaking Trophee des Champions run.