After
Ezequiel Lavezzi,
Thiago Silva,
Marco Verratti,
Zlatan Ibrahimović and
Gregory van der Wiel, who all arrived in the summer of 2012, Paris Saint-Germain made another big impact in the summer transfer window 12 months later.
Lucas Digne,
Marquinhos and
Edinson Cavani all joined the squad now coached by
Laurent Blanc, who replaced
Carlo Ancelotti. The
defending Ligue 1 champions hit the ground running with a 2-1 victory over
Girondins de Bordeaux to snare the first silverware of the new season, the
2013 Trophée des Champions in
Libreville,
Gabon. In
Ligue 1, the season opened with a 1-1 draw away to
Montpellier, followed by a 1-1 draw at home to
AC Ajaccio, which saw Edinson Cavani open his account with
Les Rouge-et-Bleu. In Week 3, Laurent Blanc's men recorded their first win of the new season, against
Nantes, 2-1. After this slow start to Ligue 1, Blanc's change to a three-man midfield composed by
Blaise Matuidi,
Thiago Motta and Verratti in a 4-3-3 system during a 2-0 away win over Bordeaux in early September was the pivotal moment. It took just four more games before PSG permanently overhauled early pacesetters
Monaco at the top of the table.{{cite news After being held 1-1 by Monaco, and two wins over
Valenciennes (1-0) and
Toulouse (2-0), Paris enjoyed a week rich in emotions. First up was
Benfica at home, before a trip to
Olympique de Marseille's
Stade Vélodrome.
Les Rouge-et-Bleu made light work of their home clash, defeating the Portuguese side 3-0, for a second straight Champions League game. And then came one of the turning points of the season. Reduced to ten men and trailing on the scoreboard, Paris came from behind to defeat OM 2-1, before racking up the victories in October and November, defeating
Bastia (4-0),
Anderlecht (5-0),
Lorient (4-0),
Nice (3-1) and
Stade de Reims (3-0). Only
Saint-Étienne (2-2) and Anderlecht (1-1) took points. The series continued with Olympiacos (2-1), which confirmed qualification for the last-16 of the Champions League, and
Olympique Lyonnais (4-0) where Paris really impressed. The two first defeats of the season, against
Evian (0-2) and Benfica (1-2) changed little. Laurent Blanc's men continued to dominate with big wins over
Sochaux-Montbéliard (5-0) and
Stade Rennais (3-1), before qualifying for the quarter-finals of the
Coupe de la Ligue after extra time against Saint-Étienne. A 2-2 with
Lille in the final game of the calendar year saw Paris sitting atop the standings.
Stade Brest (5-2,
Coupe de France last 64), Ajaccio (2-1), Bordeaux (3-1, Coupe de la Ligue quarter-finals) and Nantes (5-0) all fell against the champions. The Coupe de France defeat at home to Montpellier (1-2) in the last 32 was the season's low note. However,
Les Parisiens followed up with victories over Bordeaux (2-0) and Nantes (2-1). Monaco held the club to another draw (1-1), but it only sparked the side into a streak of 11 wins in a row. In the
2014 Coupe de France Final, against Lyon, Paris won 2-1 and collected their second title of the season after the Trophée des Champions. Paris then defeated Evian TG 1-0, before drawing with Sochaux 1-1 and were crowned French champions before entering the field to play against Rennes (1-2), after Monaco failed to win. It was a second consecutive league title, the fourth in the club's history, and the third trophy of the season. ==Players==