Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel says that unless new players are brought in before Monday's transfer deadline, there will be no repeat of last season's Champions League run.
PSG won every domestic trophy available in France last season before going on to reach the European Cup final for the first time, losing narrowly to Bayern Munich in Lisbon in August.
Since the end of last season, though, they have seen captain Thiago Silva, strikers Edinson Cavani and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, right-back Thomas Meunier, plus defensive starlet Tanguy Kouassi depart, amongst others.
Apart from making Mauro Icardi's loan move from Inter Milan into a permanent transfer, the only new arrival is right-back Alessandro Florenzi, recruited on a temporary deal from Roma.
"We will do everything we possibly can and we will never accept excuses but we have to face up to the reality and that is that we have lost players," Tuchel told reporters ahead of PSG's Ligue 1 meeting with Angers on Friday.
"If we stay like this we can't speak about having the same objectives. Perhaps we can do it but we can't ask for the same things from such a reduced squad when we will have to fight with teams like Manchester City, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, who have all been very strong in the transfer market."
"In a season like this, with players who will be playing a lot for their national teams, with the coronavirus, without a pre-season, with a schedule like we have, I am worried that we will pay the price in October, November, December and January."
PSG lost their first two games of the new Ligue 1 campaign. However they have since won three in a row and will be favourites to extend that run at home to Angers, even if they will be without Angel Di Maria – who begins a four-match ban – and left-back Juan Bernat, a long-term absentee due to a knee injury.
Neymar is available after escaping punishment following allegations of racist and homophobic abuse in an ill-tempered defeat by Marseille last month.
The French league's disciplinary committee ruled on Wednesday that it did not have sufficient proof to take action against the Brazilian or Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez, who Neymar had accused of calling him a "monkey".
Friday's game, which will be played before a maximum of 1,000 spectators due to tightened coronavirus restrictions in Paris, is PSG's last before the international break.
However, their schedule is set to get very busy from the middle of this month, with the Champions League group stage starting on October 20.
