For a long time Paris Saint-Germain were a collection of superstars, but now under Luis Enrique they are a team with a clear identity and appear stronger as a result of the job done by their Spanish coach.
Having just clinched the Ligue 1 title, they move on to a Champions League quarter-final against Aston Villa in buoyant mood as they target winning that competition for the first time.
The Qatar-backed outfit won a French league and cup double and reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, in Luis Enrique’s first campaign, with Kylian Mbappe scoring 44 goals.
Mbappe’s prolific tally was all the more remarkable because he was left out of the team at times in the second half of the season after it became clear he would depart for Real Madrid.
Yet while many wondered how PSG could overcome losing their talisman, Luis Enrique continued to insist the future would be brighter.
“All I know is that if everything goes well, next season we will have a much better team in every aspect, attacking, defending, tactically. I have no doubts about that,” he said early last year.
The first months of this campaign were far from perfect amid Champions League defeats against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, as well as the coach’s refusal to play with a traditional centre-forward, which led to Randal Kolo Muani being frozen out
Young team, mood transformed
But a 3-0 win in Salzburg in December appears now as the moment when everything started to click.
That night began a run of 24 wins and two draws in 27 games, the only defeat in that time a 1-0 loss at home to Liverpool which was overturned in the second leg.
Never mind that Mbappe has gone, because with six games left PSG are one goal away from matching their total league tally from last season.
Ousmane Dembele has turned into a lethal finisher with 32 goals in all competitions, while Bradley Barcola, Goncalo Ramos and Desire Doue have netted 43 times between them.
This is a young team in which five of the 11 most-used players are aged 23 or under.
Led by the dynamic Portuguese midfield duo of Vitinha and Joao Neves, they press high with boundless energy, suffocating opponents.
Add the stamina, pace and quality of full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, and the contrast with the days of Lionel Messi and Neymar is stark.
Two years ago PSG were a mess, as far from succeeding in the Champions League as they had ever been since the Qatari takeover of 2011. Luis Enrique has transformed the mood.
“Last year was really good. We won several trophies and got to the Champions League semi-finals. This season we are clearly a better team,” Luis Enrique said after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Angers which sealed the title.
“The players have shown a level of maturity you don’t necessarily associate with such a young side. When I see the team attack and defend all together, it wasn’t a utopian dream,” added the 54-year-old, who recently extended his contract to 2027.
As well as targeting the Champions League, PSG can still become the first Ligue 1 club to complete the season without losing a game, and have the French Cup final against Reims to come.
“My happiness is not linked to trophies but to the implication of the players,” the coach said.
“I renewed my contract, and the profile of the players we have signed allows us to work over the medium to long term. Everything is in place to do great things.”
The players clearly buy into Luis Enrique’s ideas, which could not be said for all his predecessors at PSG, such as Christophe Galtier and Unai Emery.
“He is the boss, we follow his ideas and we try to apply them as well as possible. It already worked last season. We are still following his philosophy this season. Let’s hope it continues,” said defender Lucas Hernandez.
Now comes the clash with Emery’s Villa, and a reunion for the coaches who were on opposing benches when Barcelona faced Paris in an infamous last-16 tie in 2017, Luis Enrique’s Barca overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit by winning 6-1 in the return.
By AFP
