Luis Enrique hopes the competition in the Paris Saint-Germain squad will keep his players on their toes ahead of Wednesday's heavyweight Ligue 1 match against Monaco.
PSG are one of only two unbeaten teams in Europe's top five leagues this season, alongside Juventus in Serie A, and they lead the French top flight with 37 points.
They are seven points ahead of Marseille in second place and Monaco in third, ahead of Adi Hutter's side at Stade Louis II.
Wednesday's match will be the 97th between Monaco and PSG in Ligue 1 – the most the Parisiens have ever played against a single opponent. Monaco's 45 wins against PSG are now the most of any team in the French top flight.
Before the match, Luis Enrique said it was “utopian” to have multiple players available in every position on the pitch, praising the options available.
“I would like to have two players in each position who are starters, and for there to be real competition. I have that with the three goalkeepers and they are ready to play,” Luis Enrique told reporters.
“We sometimes lose players among the field players. For me, the basis for growing as a team is mainly the idea that the players do not know whether they are going to play or not.
“If they relax a little too much, someone else can play in their place. That's in the interest of the team. That's the way I work.”
Luis Enrique said Monaco, who have lost just one of their last five matches, are real title contenders.
They have lost 19% of their Ligue 1 matches in 2024 (six out of 32), the lowest percentage of defeats in a calendar year since they last won the title in 2017 (11%, four out of 38).
“Monaco has a very high level, with players who are often out of balance. It is a bit the same profile as Lyon. Monaco has improved defensively,” said the Spaniard.
“They are a very difficult team to play against. We will need a very good version of our team. We are used to being up to the task in these games.”
Should PSG avoid defeat, it will be the sixth time they have gone unbeaten in their first 16 games of a Ligue 1 season.
That would be four times more than any other team, with Lyon and Saint-Etienne doing this ten times each, while the last ten unbeaten teams have finished as champions after sixteen matches.
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