GRAZ, Austria (AFP) - Laurent Blanc's first match in charge of Paris Saint-Germain ended in defeat as the French champions were beaten 3-1 by Austria's Sturm Graz in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday.

Robert Beric put the Austrians ahead on 26 minutes after capitalising on an error from France under-19 defender Antoine Conte before Marco Djuricin doubled the hosts' lead two minutes later.

Sturm, who were far sharper having returned to training two weeks before their French counterparts, added a third on 76 minutes through Nikola Vujadinovic, while Hervin Ongenda netted a consolation strike with a fine lob five minutes from time.

"I'm not going to tell you stories. We were very average in the first half. We played a team getting ready for the start of their league season, which is in around 10 days," said Blanc afterwards.

"The team we faced were much better physically prepared than us. It's logical and we know it but technically we could have done better than that.

"If we have to find something positive to take away, it was the second half with the youngsters who brought freshness to the team and revealed themselves." PSG continue their preparations for the new season with a fixture against Rapid Vienna on Friday.