The vicissitudes of the coronavirus pandemic meant that Tuchel's superstars hadn't played a match in four months - since punching their ticket for the UEFA Champions League quarters by beating Dortmund - but the capital club's expensively assembled array of talent showed no signs of rust as they ran through second-tier Le Havre in implacable fashion on Sunday.

Tuchel wasn't getting carried away, however.

'A good test'

"The best thing is that nobody got hurt. Everybody benefited from being together on the field. It's different from doing a training session," said the German. "We played a good game, with seriousness and a good state of mind. Our offense was fluid, the defense was serious. It was a good test. It's not easy to come back after a four-month break, but the team is very focused, very calm. The players are happy to be together."

Indeed, Les Quatre Fantastiques - Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar - and their teammates hit the ground running, bagging five goals in the first half (Neymar, Icardi x 2, Mbappé) before Tuchel ran the rule over his squad, making ten changes at half-time. Pablo Sarabia snatched his own double after the break, with Idrissa Gueye and youngster Arnaud Kalimuendo also pitching in.

Step by step

Inevitably the post-match talk turned to Friday UEFA Champions League draw and PSG's being pitted against Italian upstarts Atalanta in the quarter-finals in the Final8 tournament in Lisbon, but Tuchel was keen to underline the importance of the matches - both domestic cup finals - that come before then.

"It's going to be a very tough match against Atalanta, very close because they've got a lot of quality. But now is not the time to lose our heads with this match," said the PSG boss. "The challenge is to arrive in Lisbon with two titles, and also to prepare for the match against Saint-Etienne (in the Coupe de France final on 24 July). That's the only match in my head right now, and then it's Lyon [in the Coupe de la Ligue BKT final on 31 July]. After that we have 12 days to prepare Bergamo. It's absolutely necessary to do it step by step."

A Fan of fans

That PSG were in such fine form despite a longer lay-off than any of the players would have had over their whole professional careers perhaps owed something to the fact that 5,000 fans were permitted entry to the ground - something Tuchel enjoyed.

"It was a nice surprise, because in Germany, Spain or England they are playing with no-one in the stadiums. We liked it a lot, it really changed the atmosphere in the stadium," he said before putting things in perspective. "But the most important thing is not that the coach wants spectators, it's that everyone is in good health."