Just four days before facing Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup, Paris Saint-Germain squared off against Manchester United in Gothenburg. The match concluded with a 1-1 stalemate, as both sides tested different line-ups in the Swedish chill.

PSG strikes early in Sweden

The French champions started brightly, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Dário Fernandes and Ibrahim Mbaye combining to open the scoring inside two minutes. Kvaratskhelia then forced a sharp save from Tom Heaton, underlining PSG’s intent to avoid a repeat of their earlier 0-3 loss in Mallorca.

Manchester United fight back

United weathered the early storm and began to assert themselves, despite the 19th-minute withdrawal of Mason Mount through injury. Bryan Mbeumo buzzed around Amad Diallo, and after Mbeumo’s free-kick was parried away by Matveï Safonov in the 20th minute, Diallo pounced on an Axel Koukaba error to level proceedings in the 32nd minute.

Safonov then had to palm away a Mbeumo free-kick into his own net in the 38th minute. Koukaba gifted possession to Diallo moments later (40th), who again tested Safonov in the 42nd minute. Only Kvaratskhelia maintained his side’s intensity from the outset.

Luis Enrique deploys fresh faces

In the second half, Manchester United grew in threat, with Mbeumo’s effort saved by Safonov in the 54th minute. A Joshua Zirkzee run forced Safonov to leave his line in the 72nd minute, drawing jeers from the home crowd. The Russian was promptly replaced by 18-year-old summer recruit Alessandro Longoni, who endured a baptism of fire before being withdrawn.

Wednesday’s loss to Mallorca saw Lucas Chevalier replace Safonov in the second period. This time, the bench yielded several big names as Luis Enrique introduced his Portuguese trio—Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and João Mendes—alongside Marquinhos for the final half-hour before Wednesday’s Super Cup opener.