Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Jennifer Echegini has admitted that their women's team needs greater self-belief in order to emulate the men's side's success in Europe, and is looking to drive a culture shift after taking on more responsibility.
OL Lyonnes have long dominated women's football in France and consistently been among Europe's top sides. PSG have been their closest rivals over the last decade and a half, but have struggled to maintain the same consistency and team culture.
This season has started relatively well. PSG are unbeaten in the UEFA Women's Champions League with five points from three games against Real Madrid, OH Leuven and Manchester City. Domestically, they sit second in the league, five points behind leaders Lyon.
The 25-year-old Nigeria international -- known to her teammates as 'Joe' (an abbreviation of Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini) -- has become one of the leaders of a young dressing room.
Echegini told media, including ESPN, at a virtual press conference: "Last year was a bit difficult for us. We didn't do as well as we'd like to.
"This year was more of a second chance -- realising how much it hurts being out the league phase [where PSG finished 17th out of 18 teams in 2025-26] and trying to do as much as we can now to make sure that doesn't happen again.
"Just appreciating every game and giving everything, walking away from the field knowing that you've given 100% - I feel more of a mental shift within the team that has allowed us to give everything in these [Champions League] games.
"We can see from the last game against Manchester City, where we scored in the last few minutes of the game [to secure a 1-1 draw]. I felt like if that had been maybe last year, we would have maybe psyched out mentally.
"I feel like there's more of a mental shift that has allowed us to fight more and be more present in those games for the duration of the 90 minutes."
PSG won Division 1 Féminine for the first and only time in 2020-21, but arguably their most talented team ever on paper fell apart the following season in the aftermath of the Nov. 4, 2021 assault on Kheira Hamaroui.
Her teammate at the time, Aminata Diallo, was arrested, released and then re-arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. Diallo has consistently denied wrongdoing and has not yet stood trial.
Both players have long since moved on from the club, but the incident cast a shadow over the dressing room for years -- as outlined in the BBC's Sport's Strangest Crimes podcast.
Echegini only joined the club in 2024, after both Diallo and Hamraoui had both left. PSG attempted to revitalise the dressing room with a raft of new signings, and have since shifted focus from bringing in new players to developing the talent already on their books.
"I've definitely evolved into more of a leadership role, I'd say. I've taken ownership and accountability of the things that are happening with the team," Echegini said.
"We have some older girls. We have a lot of younger girls actually. I'm 25 but I am part of the older group. It shows the young talent that is coming through. The team has a lot of quality. Despite not having made a lot of signings, we're still able to show the quality that we have on the team."
When asked which young players on PSG's books the world should be watching out for, Echegini said: "There's a lot.
"We have Lea [Morissaint]; we have Marie-Estella [Lafontaine]. They're both young attacking forwards. Tara [Elimbi Gilbert] scored the equaliser against Manchester City. Thiniba [Samoura] - she's one of our starting centre-backs. She's [22].
"We have a lot of young talent all over the field starting in these games. We have Flo (Florianne Jourde) [in midfield and] Merveille [Kanjinga] on the right... It's, like, half the team that I've mentioned."
Despite the positive start to this season, a 4-0 league defeat to reigning champions Lyon on Oct. 17 was a reminder of how far PSG still have to go.
Champions League fixtures against Bayern Munich on Nov. 10 and Chelsea on Nov. 18 offer ideal opportunities for redemption.
Echegini said: "The midfield battles are going to be interesting. That's my position, but in general, those teams are two big teams, so it's going to be a battle all over the pitch. I'm definitely excited. Those are big games and I'm looking forward to playing in them."
ESPN Africa airs the UEFA Women's Champions League on DStv channels 218 and 219, as well as on Disney+ in South Africa. For more information on how to watch, click here.