Luis Enrique sent his star Ousmane Dembélé a pointed message at Rennes. The Paris Saint-Germain boss hauled off his forward at half-time, even with his side two goals down, a call that laid bare his frustration with Dembélé's first-half display.
The decision came after Dembélé looked well below his level, and the Spaniard responded by throwing on new signing Ferran Torres in his place. Enrique also brought on Mayulu for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, hunting a change of shape after a wretched opening 45 minutes.
Torres wasted no time repaying the faith. The Spanish forward struck twice on his Paris Saint-Germain debut, dragging the team back into the game and rescuing a 2-2 draw with Rennes after the Parisians had stared down a shock defeat.
Enrique's call to withdraw Dembélé in particular caught the eye of the "After Foot" programme on "RMC" radio. The analysts reckoned the Spaniard had fired a blunt warning at his players: their names and their standing would count for nothing if they failed to deliver.
Walid Acherchour, an analyst on the programme, said: "We witnessed another decision from a great coach, as he substituted the Ballon d'Or winner, and perhaps its future winner, between the halves, to be rewarded with a 2-2 draw. Wonderful management from Luis Enrique."
According to Acherchour, hooking Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia while two goals adrift proved that Enrique hands no player immunity because of his name or reputation. The Spaniard, he added, wanted his key men to hear it loud and clear: complacency would not be tolerated.
He continued: "When Kvaratskhelia and Dembélé's performance is completely off their level in the first half, then in the second half, and you are trailing by two clear goals, you bring on Ferran Torres and Mayulu, so you are sending a message that what matters most is not standing, and that if you are not at your best, you are out of the running."
Enrique himself insisted afterwards that the decision was nothing personal against Dembélé or Kvaratskhelia. It flowed instead from a philosophy that demands constant proof of readiness from everyone. "Paris Saint-Germain have not won anything," he said. "If you focus on what you won previously, you will not win anything."
The Spanish coach added: "The most important thing is that there is no room for complacency. You have to show every day, in every training session, and in every match, that you are ready, otherwise it is easy to relax. We always seek to win, and to achieve victory continuously, you have to get out of your comfort zone."
His reshuffle stretched beyond the attack. Enrique also reworked midfield, sending on Fabián Ruiz for João Neves before introducing Beraldo for Vitinha, changes that gave Paris Saint-Germain a fresh edge in the second half and fuelled the fightback from two goals down to a draw.