PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique could only crouch down and watch as Monaco's attacks kept coming in waves, his players powerless to stop them.

After weeks of saying his team is attacking and defending better than last season, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Luis Enrique’s body language spoke for itself.

And afterward he simply could not gloss over Friday's 3-1 home defeat to Monaco in Ligue 1, which could have been far heavier given how easily the visitors' swift counterattacks pierced PSG's midfield and flanks.

“We were very imprecise for many parts of the match, we made some unusual mistakes. We made mistakes, a lot of mistakes," he said. “This is a crucial moment in the season, but it’s up to us to turn things around, to regain our confidence. I want to be optimistic.”

It was PSG's seventh defeat of the season in all competitions, and fourth in the past 13 games. Next up is Chelsea at home on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 game.

“What I want to say is that I don’t want to lose faith in this team," said Luis Enrique, who sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as his players. “It’s not the best result to arrive in the Champions League, we’re aware of that."

PSG's run to a first Champions League trophy last season surprised many observers, and PSG almost followed up with another trophy only to lose the Club World Cup final to Chelsea on July 13.

An exhausting season saw some players having around 60 games, and then getting scant recovery time before facing Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup one month later.

Key players like Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, forward Désiré Doué and midfield schemer João Neves have had persistent muscle injuries this season, which suggests they did not have enough of a break over the summer.

Dembélé and Vitinha, for example, played the whole game against Tottenham. Three weeks later, Dembélé and Doué — who started the match against Tottenham — both picked up muscle-related injuries playing for France.

Physical and mental fatigue

PSG's high-octane play requires constant mobility, with speedy players darting all over the field, while the counter-pressing from the forwards requires Dembélé to harry defenders — like he did so efficiently when PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final.

But this style of play is hugely demanding physically, and some of PSG's players — notably Vitinha, who is well below his best — are looking exhausted.

This has translated into clumsy mistakes on the field from midfielders like Vitinha and Warren Zaïre-Emery, who gave the first goal away against Monaco after failing to dribble out of the the penalty area. Lee Kang-in lost possession in midfield leading up to Monaco's third goal.

“It’s one of the things we need to improve. We clumsily gave the ball away," PSG left back Nuno Mendes said. “Running toward our goal (defending) is not what we like. We like to run at the opponents’ goal.”

Luis Enrique acknowledge that mental fatigue is creeping in and affecting confidence.

“When there are problems it’s the mind that shuts down first. It’s a strange, unpleasant feeling,” he said. “Confidence isn’t something you buy at Monoprix (the supermarket), you have to build it day after day. We’re having some difficulties, but we have to keep hoping we can turn things around.”

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

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain dropped points in the Ligue 1 title race after losing 3-1 at home to a slick Monaco side on Friday.

Leader PSG's fourth league defeat of the campaign could have been even heavier and rival Lens can move within one point at the top by beating rock-bottom Metz on Sunday.

Livewire winger Maghnes Akliouche opened the scoring for Monaco and American forward Folarin Balogun sealed the win with a deflected strike in the 73rd minute.

Monaco beat PSG 1-0 in the league in September and has taken the lead in all four games this season, including two in the Champions League.

PSG hosts Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 game on Wednesday.

Akliouche pounced in the 27th minute after terrible defending from Warren Zaïre-Emery, who tried to dribble out of his penalty area and lost the ball.

Balogun reacted quickly to combine with Akliouche to his right, and he slammed the ball in off the post.

Akliouche scored at the same end at Parc des Princes in the return leg of the Champions League playoff. PSG advanced 5-4 on aggregate to set up the clash with Chelsea.

Fifth-place Monaco grabbed a second goal 10 minutes into the second half when midfielder Aleksandr Golovin, who had just come on, slid the ball into the bottom corner after latching onto a cross from the right. He almost scored again moments later with a superb dipping strike from 25 meters.

Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé came on for PSG on the hour mark, having missed the last three games with a calf injury, but lacked sharpness.

Forward Bradley Barcola pulled a goal back in the 71st with a deflected low shot, but Balogun restored the two-goal lead from the edge of the penalty area when his shot sailed over goalkeeper Matvei Safonov's head.

Safonov was beaten again near the end although Simon Adingra's shot hit the crossbar.

Akliouche makes World Cup case

Akliouche has made five appearances for France since breaking into the national team at the start of the season, and is pushing his case to be included in coach Didier Deschamps' World Cup squad later this year.

Akliouche caused problems throughout with his runs from deep and midfielder Vitinha intervened just in time to stop him shooting again late in the first half.

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