PSG eyes revenge in return to Shenzhen

A year after swaggering into Shenzhen to lift French soccer's Champions Trophy, Paris Saint-Germain will return to the southern Chinese city in August.

PSG coasted to a 3-0 victory over Monaco in last year's showcase match, which pits the Ligue 1 champion against the French Cup winner (or, as was the case last year, the league runner-up, because PSG had done the double).

This time revenge will be on the minds of PSG superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, with the freshly crowned Ligue 1 champion set to face Rennes, which beat the capital club on penalties in last month's French Cup final.

The Aug 3 match will be played at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators.

The match is part of a six-year deal between the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and Kaisa Culture Sports and Tourism Group, a Shenzhen-based venue operator.

"The Chinese market is very important to the global footprint of Ligue 1," Olivier Jaubert, the LFP's chief sales and marketing officer, said at a media conference in Shenzhen on Monday.

He added that the LFP is endeavoring to better engage Chinese audiences through marketing and promotions on social-media platforms WeChat and Weibo.

"By working with Kaisa Culture Sports and Tourism and with our concerted efforts, we are now even closer to Chinese audiences and fans," Jaubert said.

PSG's former Brazilian player Maxwell, now the club's assistant sporting director, said PSG is keen to snare the entire Asian market and is on the lookout for players from the continent, regardless of their nationality.

August's match will be the Champion Trophy's third visit to China following last year's Shenzhen game and its 2014 debut in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Kaisa has more preseason treats in store for Chinese fans this summer.

The International Super Cup will feature two matches－PSG against Inter Milan in Macao on July 27, and PSG against Wu Lei's Espanyol in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on July 30.

China international Wu, who has lit up La Liga since joining Espanyol from Shanghai SIPG in January, can expect a warm homecoming.

Agusti Filomeno Alsina, marketing and sales director at Espanyol, said: "Our main objective in participating in this competition is to display our team so that a wider audience can see us.

"We hope to promote the value of sports. Wu Lei, obviously, is our ambassador."