Khvicha Kvaratskelia made his PSG debut on Saturday and brought home a goal for Oousmane Dembele, but the Ligue 1 leaders were held to a 1-1 draw by Reims. Dembele put PSG into shape at the Parc des Princes with his eighth goal in his last seven matches, only for Japanese international Keito Nakamura to follow soon after. PSG were unable to follow up their impressive midweek win over Manchester City in the Champions League with another win, but they remain unbeaten domestically this season and move provisionally 10 points from Marseille above Ligue 1.
Reims have won just once in 12 league trips, yet it was the second draw of the season against Paris Saint-Germain, where Luis Enrique’s side may have had their heads elsewhere.
The Parisians go to Germany to play VFB Stuttgart on Wednesday needing a draw to be sure of progressing into the knockout stage of the Champions League, and Luis Enrique’s role in his team with that game in mind.
Achraf Hakim, Marquinhos, Pacho, Willian, Joao Neves, Vitaha and Bradley Barkula have been rested, with another place up for grabs by Kvaratskhelia.
“He is a player you can see different when he gets the ball,” Luis Enrique said of the Georgian.
“I hope this is just the first of many games for the club and I think it has been positive although of course it lacks rhythm after a month without playing.”
Kvaratskhelia is not yet eligible for the Champions League, so he makes his first PSG appearance here since arriving last week from Napoli for €70 million ($72 million).
Goncalo Ramos almost saw him put forward sideways in the first half with a shot turned into the post by goalkeeper Yhvan Diove.
Kvaratskhelia then played a key role in setting up the opener two minutes after the interval, cutting in from the left and playing two before Dembele rose to score with a deflected shot.
However, Nakamura finished off a brilliant move to bring Reims level nine minutes later with his eighth goal of the season, and there was no further scoring.
Monaco reaches third place
Marseille visit on Sunday, while Monaco rose to third place after a 3-2 win at home to Rennes in a precedent for Rennes to beat Lille 2-1 in Strasbourg.
In this principality, Monaco followed up a 1-0 home win over Aston Villa in the Champions League in midweek with Rennes seeing off thanks to goals from Maghnes Akliouche, Mika Biereth and Aleksandr Golovin.
Akliouche lit up the occasion in front of a sparse crowd at The Stade Louis II by opening the scoring with a breathtaking overhead kick after a quarter of an hour.
Golovin struck moments later when he should have scored, and Mahamadou Nagida instead equalized for Rennes on a stoppage time in the first half.
Danish striker Berreth restored Monaco’s lead early in the second half, with the former Arsenal youngster getting his first goal since signing from Storm Grze.
Akliouche Golovin then set up Monaco’s Russian international for the third on 56 minutes, although they were forced to hang on after Amine Gouiri got another goal for Rennes.
Brittany have lost five of their five league and cup matches in 2025, and have been beaten seven times in 10 matches since the appointment of former Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli in November.
“I feel I can do something for this club and I will do everything I can to get us out of this situation,” Sampaoli said when asked if he felt his position was under threat.
Monaco’s first win in five league matches lifted them into third place, three points behind Marseille and two ahead of Lille.
Like Monaco, Lille are certain to feature in the knockout stage of the Champions League even though they saw a club record 21-game winning streak in all competitions end in a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool in midweek.
Sahraoui’s auspicious strike gave Lille the lead in Strasbourg, but Chelsea loan Andre Santos equalized 20 minutes from time and Emmanuel Emega got what proved to be the winner soon after for the hosts, who were unbeaten in eight.
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