Twelve months ago PSG crushed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest winning margin in Champions League final history. On Saturday in Budapest they face Arsenal with the chance to do something only Real Madrid have managed in the modern era.
Back-to-back Champions League titles.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid side won three consecutive titles between 2016 and 2018 – the only club to go back-to-back in the modern Champions League era. Before them you have to go back to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan in 1989 and 1990. PSG are attempting to join that exclusive company.
The transformation under Luis Enrique has been remarkable. When the Spaniard arrived in 2023, Lionel Messi, Neymar and eventually Kylian Mbappe had all departed.
What remained was a young, hungry squad with something to prove. Three consecutive semi-finals later – before his arrival PSG had reached the last four just three times in their entire history – and PSG are now one of the most admired sides in European football.
The architect of that admiration is Ousmane Dembele. Transformed from a dazzling but inconsistent winger into a prolific striker, he won the Ballon d’Or last season after scoring 35 goals. This season his minutes have been carefully managed but he has still contributed 19 goals and 11 assists in just 24 starts.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been arguably the standout player of this entire Champions League campaign – seven goals and three assists in the knockout rounds alone. At 29, Dembele is the fourth oldest player in the squad. Youth and energy define this side.
“When I came to the club I said my objective was to make history,” Luis Enrique told UEFA. “We want to keep writing history because we feel there are still things to be achieved.”
A win on Saturday would make him only the fifth manager to win three European Cups – joining Ancelotti, Paisley, Zidane and Guardiola.
– AFP
Photo: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images
