Luis Enrique's PSG Just One Step From Making History (image-instagram/psg)
2025 season is bringing in wonders in the football world—underdog clubs defying odds and lifting major trophies. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is one such club, though it had boasted superstar players including Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr, but failed to win any European silverware since the third-tier UEFA Intertoto Cup way back in 2001.
This year, the French side could etch its name in history, if it manages to overcome Inter Milan in the Champions League final. And the whole credit goes to Luis Enrique—the man that transformed the team into one of the most exciting attacking sides in Europe. Marseille in 1993 remains France’s only winner of the Champions League.
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Following Luis’s appointment in 2023, Messi that summer left the club to join Inter Miami, and Neymar was sold to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal. With the departure of Mbappe 12 months later, began the club’s post-Galactico era. In the absence of the star players, Luis focused on building up a team rather than focusing on individuals, and that seems to have worked well for the team.
Despite being considered an underdog at the start of the knockout stages, bringing in early surprise, PSG stunned Liverpool in the Round of 16, which was later followed by its convincing win over Aston Villa in the quarter-finals. And that wasn’t it, PSG’s biggest statement came after they defeated Arsenal in the semi-finals. The statement was loud and clear: sometimes the team doesn’t need star players to win the cup; tactical discipline and youth development will do the job too. Key players like Ousmane Dembélé, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Achraf Hakimi stepped up when it mattered most.
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May 31 will be etched in history as PSG and Inter Milan step onto the pitch at the Allianz Arena in Munich. For the first time in 21 years, it will be a Champions League final without a Premier League, Bundesliga, or La Liga club involved. PSG and Inter Milan reaching the final serves as a powerful response to critics who had long dismissed the quality of Serie A.
