Kolkata: On May 25 last year, Kylian Mbappe played his last match for Paris St-Germain (PSG), a 2-1 win against Lyon in the French Cup final which completed a domestic double. Then, the world’s most feared attacker had left taking with him all that directness, speed, strength, to say nothing of the 44 goals and 10 assists in 48 matches. Ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final, it can be said the departure was a blessing in disguise for PSG.
Luis Enrique had seen it coming. In February 2024, when news broke that Mbappe would finally be joining Real Madrid over a decade after Zinedine Zidane had given him a guided tour of the club, the PSG manager had said: “If everything goes well I’m convinced we’ll have a much better team than this year.” A treble at home and being one match away from winning the competition they covet the most, it is difficult to dispute that.
Mbappe was the last of the “flashy bling bling” at PSG. Coined by club president Nasser al-Khelaifi, the term meant dazzling attacking players who contribute little without the ball. PSG had gone down that route signing Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr to team with Mbappe in front.
There is a video on the internet where Enrique is trying to explain to Mbappe how he should have pressed after PSG lost to Barcelona last term. PSG advanced on aggregate but another Champions League campaign would end in a semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund. And another season would end where Mbappe had tallied more goals than tackles and interceptions.
{{/usCountry}}There is a video on the internet where Enrique is trying to explain to Mbappe how he should have pressed after PSG lost to Barcelona last term. PSG advanced on aggregate but another Champions League campaign would end in a semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund. And another season would end where Mbappe had tallied more goals than tackles and interceptions.
{{/usCountry}}In their bid for a first Champions League trophy – there have been first-time winners every time Munich has hosted the title round – PSG also went for Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Keylor Navas, ageing players who had won it before. None of it worked so something had to change.
“We are in the middle of building a new identity, our own style and way of playing, and a new culture,” al-Khelaifi said last season. It was on Enrique to do that. One month after his appointment in July 2023, Neymar Jr, whose time at the club had been blighted by injuries, left. By then, Messi’s adventure in Paris had ended too. This season, Real paid £128m as transfer fee for Mbappe.
Exactly how much the squad has changed can be gauged from the fact that only Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe remain from the side that played the 2020 final and that five of the 11 from Enrique’s first European night (a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in September 2023) have left.
Between then and now, PSG have also found a prolific scorer in Ousmane Dembélé. A player who was the definition of wastefulness in front of goal, Dembele had 28 goals in five previous seasons, has scored 33 this term. Enrique has changed him from a wide player to a false nine and has given him the licence to roam. “He is always where he needs to be, he is then able to receive the ball and score with one touch,” Enrique has said. Shifting Dembele to a central role was, according to Montpellier coach Jean-Louis Gasset, the “idea of the century.”
It was not working till it did. Five matches into the Champions League, PSG had one win to show for all their domination. Had it been the old format of six group league games, PSG would have exited but this time there were eight and they won their last three to survive. The match which gave the best indication of things shifting was against Manchester City where PSG were trailing 0-2 before winning 4-2. Against City, PSG’s press and possession worked perfectly. On the way to the final, PSG would beat three more teams from the Premier League.
The reason why PSG have become the form team in Europe is because of their work without the ball. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was signed in January because his defensive work rate was good. PSG are making five tackles more per game from 2022-23, The Athletic has noted. Enrique, who won the Champions League as Barcelona coach in 2015, has put that down to extra defensive work, more ball recoveries, by the attacking players.
“This is one of the concepts which is hard to instil because attackers have to change their mindset…It is about working as a team,” he said ahead of the final. “We did that last season but we are better this year.”
With their fluid interchange of positions, speedy wingers and full backs, a midfield which can control the ball under pressure, and where Fabián Ruiz provides a left-footed option, and a compact defence (refer to how Arsenal were contained in Paris), PSG have become a team very different from one reliant on star dust.
It took Enrique, 55, most of the first round to get his preferred line-up. From the time of the knockout rounds PSG have looked settled. And better placed without Mbappe to go where they never have.