Paris Saint-Germain began their 50th Ligue 1 campaign with a routine 5-0 opening-day victory over Clermont Foot at the Stade Gabriel Montpied.Anything other than the 11th title for PSG would be deemed a failure in Christophe Galtier’s first season in charge of the French champions, and he headed into his opening league match without last season’s injured top scorer Kylian Mbappé. However, it was his replacement Pablo Sarabia that had a key role in their opening goal in the ninth minute. The Spaniard’s cross was flicked on by Lionel Messi into the path of Neymar, who drilled a shot low and hard past Mory Diaw to break the deadlock.That lead was doubled at the end of a devastating counter-attack from the Parisiens when Achraf Hakimi blasted in an emphatic finish at the far post following some brilliant link-up play involving Messi and Neymar. PSG’s no.10 was the provider again when his inswinging free-kick was powered home by Marquinhos, as it became a case of damage limitation for Clermont before the halftime break.Komnen Andrić was one of six debutants for the hosts, and he almost announced his arrival in style after the interval. The Serbian was allowed to turn on the edge of the box, only to fire his subsequent shot a whisker wide of the target. However, that was a rare moment of promise in a match where PSG cruised to victory, with Messi skying a shot over the bar from deep inside the box.Nuno Mendes should have added a fourth goal for PSG, but his header from Hakimi’s cross was comfortably saved by Diaw – the wide man’s final act before being replaced by Hugo Ekitiké. A fourth did come courtesy of Messi, and the Argentine got off the mark for the season following a lovely one-two with Neymar ahead of a straightforward close-range finish. What followed though was a moment of Messi magic, as the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner latched onto a Leandro Paredes pass and beat Diaw with an audacious bicycle kick, rounding off the scoring.It was the perfect start for Galtier’s side, who welcome Montpelier to the Parc des Princes next Saturday, while Clermont will be targeting their first points of the season when they travel to Reims on August 14.LIGUE 1 – Matchday 1FridayOlympique Lyonnais – Ajaccio 2-1 (2-1)/Tete 12, Lacazette 22 pen – Mangani 31 pen/SaturdayStrasbourg – Monaco 1-2 (0-1)/Diallo 65 – Diatta 43, Diop 53/Clermont – PSG 0-5 (0-3)/Neymar 9, Hakimi 26, Marquinhos 38, Messi 80, 86/Sunday14.00: (3.00) Toulouse (3.30) Nice (2.60)16.00: (2.78) Angers (3.10) Nantes (3.00)16.00: (1.84) Lille (3.70) Auxerre (5.00)16.00: (2.35) Montpellier (3.35) Troyes (3.40)16.00: (1.63) Lens (4.10) Brest (6.25)18.05: (1.38) Rennes (5.50) Lorient (9.50)21.45: (1.65) Olympique Marseille (3.90) Reims (6.50)***odds are subject to change
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