Martens scored after five minutes on a pass from the fast right winger Kadidiatou Diani, who signed for the 2-0 final score on behalf of PSG in the 34th minute. The match was played at the Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, just west of Paris. PSG finished second behind Olympique Lyon last season and will soon play the play-offs for a spot in the Champions League, on September 21 and 28 against Sweden’s BK Häcken.
Martens let the international matches of Orange pass by last week. The spectacular placement for the 2023 World Cup, due to the late goal of Esmee Brugts against Iceland (1-0), saw them Tuesday evening from Paris. Martens was still recovering during the international match from the foot injury she sustained at the European Championship in England, where she could not make much of an impression. Just like at the 2019 World Cup in France, Martens struggled with her form and fitness, after she was the big star in the summer of 2017 when the Orange squad won the European Championship in her own country.
After the European Championship 2017, Martens made the switch from FC Rosengård to FC Barcelona, where she played for five years. She won 11 trophies with the Spanish top club, including the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2021. Last season, Martens was still of great value to Barcelona with 22 goals and 18 assists in 32 games (in all competitions), but she wanted to be closer to her family live in the Netherlands and therefore chose Paris as her new residence. Martens signed a three-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, where she is said to earn around 250,000 euros per year.
PSG finished second in the French league last season, eleven points behind superpower Olympique Lyon, which also won the Champions League for the eighth time in eleven years. PSG, which has also invested heavily in the women’s team in recent years, broke Lyon’s hegemony in its own country in the 2020/2021 season.