Focus on PSG, Monaco as league begins

PARIS. All eyes will be on defending champions Paris Saint-Germain and big-spending rivals Monaco when the French league kicks off this weekend, with new PSG coach Laurent Blanc making clear that anything short of the title will mean failure for his expensively assembled team.Blanc’s first match in charge was at Montpellier on Friday (last evening), while newly promoted Monaco visit Bordeaux on Saturday.PSG have again spent heavily in the transfer market, notably bringing in Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani from Napoli for €64 million in the fifth most expensive transfer in history.“Our target will not be reached if we finish second,” Blanc said. “Our targets are clear: do as well as possible in all the competitions PSG are in. We want to do better in the Champions League than last year.”“It will be a difficult season, as it often is after winning the league title,” he said. “There is extra pressure. And above all there are your rivals who are playing against the reigning champions. They want to beat you at any cost and that will be seen from the Montpellier match.”Cavani is a doubt against Montpellier as he only recently joined his teammates. Fans may have to wait longer to see how he links up with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.“With Ibra and Cavani, we have the two best European goalscorers. We have both of them in the same shirt, it’s a dream attack,” Blanc said.Montpellier beat PSG to the league title in 2012 but finished a disappointing ninth last season.Monaco also have been on a spending spree, signing Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid for a reported €60 million, as well as Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez from Porto. Eric Abidal, Jeremy Toulalan and Ricardo Carvalho have also joined the club.The Principality side is expected to be PSG’s closest challengers but coach Claudio Ranieri insists he is not thinking about the title.“The goal is to finish in the top three,” he said. “But at the moment what’s important is to work because we are still building our team. I am satisfied with our preseason, now I want to see how it goes against Bordeaux, which has a good pressing and plays very well in counter attacks.