Paris Saint-Germain’s summer schedule is starting to take shape, and the first stop is a bit of a headscratcher. L’Équipe broke the news Friday that the back-to-back European champions will face Mallorca on August 5 at Son Moix in Spain. The catch? Mallorca just got relegated to Liga 2 at the end of the 2026-2027 season.
So why bother? Well, PSG has a problem unique to being this good. Sixteen of their players are still at the World Cup. That tournament runs through July 19. Anyone who goes deep — and PSG has guys all over the bracket — gets a mandated four weeks off, or three weeks if they play in the final. That means a pretty empty locker room when training camp opens on July 25.
The Mallorca game is basically for the guys who stayed home. A chance to knock off rust and get minutes against live opposition before the real stuff starts. It’s not glamorous, but it’s smart. You can’t just scrimmage against yourself for two weeks and then walk into a game against Manchester United.
The Road to the Super Cup
Speaking of United, PSG faces them three days later on August 8 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. That one will likely have a few more World Cup returnees, depending on how deep their countries went. Then the real prize: the UEFA Super Cup against Aston Villa on August 12 in Salzburg, Austria. Villa earned that matchup by winning the Europa League, and they’re not going to roll over just because PSG has been collecting trophies like they’re going out of style.
That Super Cup is a legit trophy, and PSG has made it clear they’re chasing history. Winning three straight European Cups would put them in a conversation with only a handful of clubs ever. Every preseason game matters when you’re trying to build momentum for that kind of run.
The staff has a delicate balance to strike here. You need to get your World Cup guys rest, obviously. But you also need them integrated into whatever tactical tweaks Luis Enrique is cooking up for the new season. The Mallorca and United friendlies give the second-string guys a chance to prove they belong, while the Super Cup is where the stars will start showing up.
No word yet on which players will be available for which games. That’ll depend on how the World Cup shakes out. But one thing is clear: PSG isn’t treating any of these as a vacation. Three matches in eight days, two of them against European competition, and all of them in different countries. That’s a working trip.
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