PSG favorite to win another French title with spending power unmatched by rivals in Ligue 1

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain hardly needed to bolster a squad good enough to win five consecutive Ligue 1 crowns and two straight Champions League titles.

Yet that's exactly what coach Luis Enrique did this offseason and it remains to be seen whether it was a wise move.

“Strengthening the squad does not mean we lack confidence in the current players,” he said. “Bringing in new players provides a different energy and mentality.”

Spain's World Cup forward Ferran Torres joined wingers Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts in garnishing an already prolific PSG attack.

PSG will be odds-on to secure a record-extending 15th Ligue 1 title, starting with a home game against Rennes on Sunday.

It will give a first indication of how Luis Enrique plans to manage a top-heavy front line and, in the longer term, how established players react to not being picked.

Take Torres, for example.

He scored Spain's winning goal in the World Cup final and offers great movement, speed and skill across the front line.

“He can adapt to how we want to play,” Luis Enrique said. “He can play anywhere in attack.”

But PSG already has two players who do precisely that: Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, who scored six goals for France at the World Cup, and Désiré Doué.

So there's no certainty Torres will start in a side which also contains France forward Bradley Barcola and Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Akliouche caused PSG problems when Monaco narrowly lost a Champions League playoff 5-4 on aggregate last season, and tormented the capital club's defence in a league win.

But how does he dislodge either Barcola, who scored three times at the World Cup, or Kvaratskhelia, arguably the world's best winger?

Godts is a 21-year-old with big promise and comes with a hefty price tag of 55 million euros ($64 million). Yet unless Barcola leaves to join Liverpool — as has been widely touted — he can expect to be third choice.

However, most observers would say PSG is spoilt for choice, which is not the case for its Ligue 1 rivals.

Marseille opens its campaign at home to Strasbourg on Friday.

Here's a look at PSG's potential challengers:

The northern side, formerly a mining town, has a passionate fanbase which helped push the team last season.

For the first time in several seasons, PSG had a genuine title challenger until the players ran out of steam toward the end. Lens finished an impressive second and won the French Cup under coach Pierre Sage, who has since joined Crystal Palace.

Lens hired Dino Toppmöller, a fluent French-speaking German who likes to play attacking soccer, and managed to keep Florian Thauvin, the club's inspirational goal-scoring winger.

With new France coach Zinedine Zidane watching, Thauvin scored as Toppmöller's first game in charge ended with a 1-0 win against PSG on Sunday in the Trophée des Champions.

Lens is at home to Auxerre on Saturday.

Experienced coach Bruno Genesio was hired to bring stability to a club again in turmoil last season.

Marseille had two coaches, Roberto De Zerbi and Habib Beye, failed to get past the Champions League group stage and finished sixth in Ligue 1, including a 5-0 loss to PSG.

Former striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who left after a second spell, said the atmosphere was unhealthy as too many outside factors disturbed the squad.

Last season began with a dressing-room fight between two players, and tensions have already surfaced this time after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was stripped of the captaincy — against Genesio's wishes. The midfielder reportedly turned down a move to Newcastle, with Marseille trying to balance the books.

“It’s a decision that was dictated to me by the club’s management," Genesio said. "It’s not a decision I agree with. But I am an employee and must abide by certain obligations.”

Hardly the ideal atmosphere to start rebuilding a team which last won the league in 2010.

Without Aubameyang and Mason Greenwood, Genesio's side could be short on goals.

The eight-time champion also had two coaches last season — Adi Hütter and Sébastien Pocognoli — but finished a frustrating seventh. New coach Filipe Luís is tasked with making Monaco competitive again.

The attack will be relying on U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, the player at the center of a red card controversy at the World Cup which became political.

Former teenage prodigy Ansu Fati has joined permanently, after scoring 12 goals on loan from Barcelona last season.

But the club needs better judgement, after the signing of former star midfielder Paul Pogba on a two-year deal backfired completely. The 2018 World Cup winner played only a handful of games last term and got injured in preseason.

Monaco is at Le Havre on Sunday.

Genesio guided Lille to third place in Ligue 1 last season thanks to a strong late finish.

But expecting Olivier Giroud to lead the attack once again seems a long shot, given the former France striker turns 40 in September.

Lille needs more goals from 21-year-old Belgium winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo, although he wants to leave, with big clubs competing to sign him ahead of Sunday's game at Angers.

The club could also lose highly-rated midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old who made a big impression for Morocco at the World Cup, with Manchester City reportedly ready to meet Lille's asking price of 100 million euros.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

FILE - Lille's head coach Bruno Genesio stands before a first leg, round of 16 Europa League soccer match between Lille and Aston Villa in Lille, France, on Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

FILE - Lens' Florian Thauvin celebrates after scoring during the French Cup soccer final between Nice and Lens in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, file)

PSG's head coach Luis Enrique instructs his players during the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa in Salzburg, Austria, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

PSG's Maghnes Akliouche lifts the trophy during celebrations at the end of the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa in Salzburg, Austria, Wednesday, Aug.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

LONDON (AP) — An English judge issued a scathing report on Tuesday, blaming dysfunctional management and a “complete failure at all levels” to protect babies at the hospital where neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven newborns.

The inquiry into baby deaths found the Countess of Chester Hospital, in northwestern England, could have saved some infants if staff had acted sooner when children began collapsing, Justice Kathryn Thirlwall said.

“Errors were made by nurses, doctors and managers,” Thirlwall said. “There was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point.”

Letby, 36, is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven babies and attempted killing of seven others. She has maintained her innocence, and a defense team backed by dozens of scientists who have questioned the evidence against her are seeking to clear her name.

Thirlwall’s inquiry didn't review Letby’s convictions, but looked at how institutional failures exposed babies to harm at the hospital, and how staff and management responded and treated parents.

She focused on the failure of staff to intervene when it became clear someone was deliberately harming babies.

“How many lives could have been saved had the hospital acted differently?” she said. “It is clear that some babies would have been saved and some attacks would have been prevented if action was taken earlier.”

Letby was convicted in 2023 of the murders of seven infants and attempted murders of six others — including two attempts on one child. A case in which jurors couldn’t reach a decision was retried and Letby was convicted of another attempted murder. She was sentenced to 15 life terms with no chance of release — only the fourth woman in the United Kingdom to receive such a term.

Prosecutors said that she harmed babies in ways that left little trace, including injecting air into their bloodstreams, administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes, poisoning them with insulin and interfering with breathing tubes.

She was the only employee on duty in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died between June 2015 and June 2016. Prosecutors described her as a “constant malevolent presence.”

Thirlwall’s report describes how numerous children were harmed, but concerns either weren't raised or suspicions weren't elevated to managers.

“This did not happen,” Thirlwall said. “The collapses and deaths continued.”

Even once the hospital began to review the spike in infant mortality and connections to Letby's work shifts — and even after the nurse had been placed on administrative duties in July 2016 — police weren't called until May 2017. Letby remained at the hospital until her arrest more than a year later.

Lawyers for Letby tried unsuccessfully to halt the inquiry by saying it could reach the wrong conclusions if her convictions are later reversed.

Defense attorney Mark McDonald said that the conclusions of the inquiry were tainted by errors at trial and accepting that Letby intentionally killed the children.

“The alternative narrative identified by nearly 30 internationally renowned experts has not been properly considered,” McDonald said. “The inquiry would have been able to hear an alternative account — one that said that insulin results were unreliable, one that said the deaths did not stop when Lucy left the unit.”

Thirlwall said that she didn't consider the debate over Letby's guilt because the Court of Appeal had rejected her legal challenges “with a very clear result.” Thirlwall said the people challenging the evidence hadn't been at the trial and she said “all of this noise” caused additional distress to parents “who have already suffered far too much.”

McDonald has presented new evidence to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, or CCRC, which looks into possible injustices and could trigger another court challenge.

A review of the medical evidence used at trial by a panel of experts convened by McDonald found no sign of a crime and concluded that natural causes or bad medical care led to the demise of each of the newborns.

The group of international experts in neonatology and pediatrics found there were inadequate staffing levels, and medical workers lacked proper skills, misdiagnosed ailments and acted slowly in treating acutely ill babies.

A view of Thirwall Inquiry reports displayed at Liverpool Town Hall ahead of the publication of the findings of a public inquiry into how Lucy Letby was able to repeatedly killed and harmed babies on a hospital neonatal unit in Liverpool, England, Tuesday Sept. 15, 2026. (Eleanor Barlow/PA via AP)

FILE - This undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows of nurse Lucy Letby. (Cheshire Constabulary via AP, File)