PSG feeling pressure as Champions League playoff against Monaco looms

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain is under pressure for the first time this season and tensions have started appearing.

After failing to qualify automatically for the last 16 of the Champions League, last year's winner faces a playoff against Ligue 1 rival Monaco.

PSG heads to Monaco for Tuesday's first leg on the back of a 3-1 defeat at Rennes, which allowed Lens to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1.

PSG is also out of the French Cup and has lost six games overall this season.

The Rennes defeat prompted PSG's Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé to question the attitude of his teammates.

“I think we need to show more desire," he said. “Because if we play as individuals on the pitch it won’t work, we won’t win the trophies we want.”

Without giving names, he suggested some players are putting themselves first.

“Last season we put the club first before thinking about ourselves. I think we need to rediscover that," Dembélé added. "We’re in the second half of the season and Paris Saint-Germain should come first, not individual players.”

Dembélé's comments led coach Luis Enrique to issue a stern reminder about keeping a united front.

“I will never allow any player to be above the club," he said. "I am the person responsible for the team."

Luis Enrique's strong man-management has helped PSG become a far more unified team. He made it clear that, unlike previous seasons, there would be no pampered players.

Dembélé found that out the hard way, when Luis Enrique dropped him for a Champions League game at Arsenal early last season on disciplinary grounds.

It worked as Dembélé went on to score 35 goals overall and help PSG win the Champions League for the first time.

PSG's surge to the title was largely unexpected — as was Dembélé's suddenly prolific scoring — and the element of surprise has now gone.

Last season stretched until the Club World Cup final in mid-July and saw some PSG players appear in more than 60 games.

The team’s high-octane style and incessant closing down demands a lot. Perhaps as a consequence, and with little recovery time over the summer, the club has been hit by injuries to key players throughout this campaign.

Dembélé has not been able to form the same understanding in attack with Désiré Doué, with both players being injured twice.

Luis Enrique also seems uncertain on his best goalkeeper, which does not help the defense.

Last season's Champions League success was helped by spectacular shot-stopping from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the knockout rounds.

But Luis Enrique decided, perhaps surprisingly, to recruit Lucas Chevalier from Lille despite his lack of experience compared to Donnarumma, a European Championship winner with Italy who made 251 appearances for AC Milan before joining PSG.

Donnarumma is now with Manchester City.

Chevalier impressed for Lille last season and was considered by Luis Enrique to be better at passing from the back than Donnarumma, which gives PSG options to attack from deeper and keep more control of possession.

Yet Chevalier has looked out of his depth at times and lost his place to Matvei Safonov, who was Donnarumma's backup last season.

PSG reached the last 16 last season by beating French side Brest 10-0 over two legs.

It promises to be a harder test against Monaco, which beat PSG earlier this season in Ligue 1 and is improving in defense, with four clean sheets in the past six games.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

PSG's Desire Doue controls the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille in Paris, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PSG's Ousmane Dembele reacts during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille in Paris, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Israeli producer Dana Eden, best known for co-creating the Emmy-winning espionage thriller “Tehran,” has died suddenly in Greece, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said Monday.

Eden, 52, was found dead in a hotel in the Greek capital, Athens, a Greek police official said, adding that initial indications suggested she had taken her own life and there was no suspicion of foul play. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as Greek police do not comment publicly in such cases.

KAN said Eden was in Greece for the filming of the hit series’ fourth season.

“Dana was among the leading figures in Israel’s television industry and played a central role in the creation and leadership of some of the most prominent and influential productions within the corporation,” KAN said in a statement. It did not give a cause of death.

“Her professional work, uncompromising dedication, and love for creation left a deep mark on the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. KAN shares in the deep sorrow of her family, friends and colleagues,” the broadcaster said.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, Eden’s production company, Donna and Shula productions, sought to dispel rumors that the producer had been killed.

“The production company wishes to clarify that the rumors of a criminal or nationally motivated death are false and unfounded,” it said.

“This is a moment of great pain for the family, friends and colleagues. We ask that Dana’s dignity and the privacy of her loved ones be respected,” the production company said.

Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, in a social media post on X, said it was “with great sadness” that he had received the news of Eden’s death, describing her as “one of the most prominent and influential producers in the Israeli television industry.”

“Dana left a deep mark on Israeli creation and brought our story to international stages with pride, talent and courage,” Zohar said.

“Tehran,” which premiered in Israel and on Apple TV in 2020, tells the story of Tamar Rabinyan, a young Mossad operative tasked with hacking into and disabling the Iranian nuclear reactor so the Israeli military can carry out an airstrike. The show was named best drama series at the 49th International Emmy Awards in November 2021.

Eden started working in TV production in Israel in the 1990s, working on shows including comedy “Yom Haem” and crime drama “Magpie,” before finding international success with “Tehran.”

In 2018, her show “Saving the Wildlife” won Best TV Magazine for Children and Youth at the Awards of the Israeli Television Academy.

Kantouris contributed from Thessaloniki. Matt Kemp in London contributed.

Decorations adorn the hotel in Athens, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, where Israeli television producer Dana Eden was found dead on Sunday while in the country filming the fourth season of the series "Tehran." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Decorations adorn the hotel in Athens, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, where Israeli television producer Dana Eden was found dead on Sunday while in the country filming the fourth season of the series "Tehran." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

FILE - Dana Eden attends the 49th International Emmy Awards at Casa Cipriani on Nov. 22, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file)

FILE - Dana Eden attends the 49th International Emmy Awards at Casa Cipriani on Nov. 22, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file)