Luis Enrique to rest stars to ensure dream treble
Luis Enrique has revealed several Paris Saint-Germain players will be rested for the club's final Ligue 1 games this season, ahead of finals in the Coupe de France and UEFA Champions League.
The Parisian side is on the verge of its first treble, having already won the league title with six games to spare.
It is set to compete in the cup final against Reims before contesting its second UEFA Champions League final a week later, against Inter Milan in Munich.
Luis Enrique's men were close to achieving an unbeaten season in the league but fell to a 3-1 defeat at home to Nice two weeks ago, meaning there is very little to play for in the final two league matches.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha have been given time off and will not return to training until next week.
Regarding the changes ahead of this weekend's trip to Montpellier, Luis Enrique said: "We have a set plan which depends on playing time and travelling throughout the season.
"You have to balance all that out to arrive in the best possible condition for both finals.
"When the [UEFA] Champions League final is over, the vast majority will go to the national teams. Every player needs a personalised plan. We've managed that, but there are still the final matches to achieve our objectives.
"The players need to arrive mentally fresh. There are a lot of players and we're managing it individually."
Luis Enrique confirmed Ousmane Dembele is fully fit after the forward came on as a second-half substitute in the UEFA Champions League semi-final win over Arsenal in midweek.
"Ousmane Dembele is perfectly fine,"the Spaniard said. "He trained with the team today, he wanted to come.
"He had permission from the staff not to come. It's what we considered adequate rest time. But if he needs to come, he's completely free to do so."
Luis Enrique believes the club has waited long enough for success in Europe's top club competition.
"If a team deserves to win, after waiting so long, it's PSG," he said.
"I know the club was founded the year I was born [in 1970]. Let's hope this connection proves true and we can secure the [UEFA] Champions League.
"The problem is that there will definitely be one team that won't succeed, but I hope we win."