Paris Saint-Germain is approaching the new season with trepidation and excitement, hoping that new recruits such as Nene can help it challenge for the title and anxious to overcome the hooliganism and racism that have scarred the French club.
Last season ended in turmoil for PSG, with one fan dying after a fight outside Parc des Princes between two groups of its supporters divided on racial grounds and who sit at opposite ends of their home stadium.
Coach Antoine Kombouare admits his players were affected by the problems last season and is confident they are motivated to finish higher than last season's 13th place.
''We had difficulties last year, whether from a sporting point of view or from a nonsporting point of view. I hope that it will help us learn what needs to be better,'' PSG coach Antoine Kombouare said. ''We need to show a lot of mental strength to go forward.''
Two deaths in four years - that is the dark legacy that looms over PSG, and president Robin Leproux hopes new initiatives will finally end the fighting among fans.
PSG won the French Cup last season and, with Brazilian playmaker Nene and midfielder Mathieu Bodmer now supplying strikers Mevlut Erding and Guillaume Hoarau, the club is optimistic that won't be the last title it wins in the near future.
''The team has a lot of talent on paper and is much better than the position it finished in last year,'' PSG goalkeeper Gregory Coupet said.
PSG's inconsistent form last season took a back seat to events off the field.
In February, a 38-year-old PSG fan suffered serious head injuries during street clashes among PSG fans at a league match against Marseille and later died after falling into a coma.
Leproux called it ''a terrible death'' and pledged to bring in ''heavy, new and efficient measures'' to tackle the violence that has troubled the club since the mid 1980s.
True to his word, and with the help of government measures, Leproux has made changes.
Offical supporters' groups considered as too troublesome have been disbanded, and the club hopes to make Parc des Princes a more family orientated place, with no more division over race or ideology.
A new ticketing policy is in place to make sure that the former supporters groups don't end up regrouping. The idea is that fans only find out where they are sitting close to kick off, and hopes are high that the festive atmosphere will defuse tensions.
''These are exceptional measures that could change the supporters themselves,'' former police commissioner Michel Lepoix told L'Equipe newspaper. ''This plan is being backed by the police with a great deal of seriousness, which convinces that PSG are on the right track.''
The first test comes Saturday night against Saint-Etienne.
But others may not be so easily convinced that it's time for peace, serenity and goodwill at PSG.
PSG has long harbored a far-right element among its fans, many of whom gathered freely for decades in the Kop of Boulogne section and were in open conflict with mixed-race supporters in the Auteuil section at the other end.
About two hours before the Marseille game on Feb. 28, a large group of supporters from Boulogne attacked their rivals outside the Auteuil entrance. The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, or LICRA, said the Boulogne group - numbering between 120 and 140 - were chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans as they attacked.
In November 2006, Julien Quemener was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman protecting a Jewish fan surrounded by a hate mob after PSG's UEFA Cup match against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Police said that Quemener was a member of a group known as the Boulogne Boys - which no longer exists - some of whom had links to the violent far-right element.
PSG's hooligan fringe has been highly active since the early 1990s, with incidents in Paris against fans from Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Galatasaray.
PSG will be playing in the Europa League this season, and the streets around Parc des Princes may still prove dangerous given how PSG hooligans fought running battles with their FC Twente counterparts during the UEFA Cup in 2008.
Kombouare, meanwhile, is hopeful that he can keep Hoarau and Sessegnon from leaving and that he has finally found the right balance between talent and team spirit in his team.
German club Schalke have reportedly bid ?10 million ($13.1 million) for Hoarau, while Sessegnon has been linked to a number of English clubs.
PSG played some decent attacking football during last weekend's Paris tournament, with Nene in particular looking a real threat, and Kombouare took heart from the fact PSG scored late goals in both games to remain unbeaten.
''It's a good sign that we can come back right at the end of games,'' Kombouare said. ''What delights me is our team spirit, bravery. That's the kind of game we can look back on to prepare our championship.''
