Since 2011, Qatar has poured more than a billion euros into Paris Saint-Germain and paraded the most expensive names in football history through the Parc des Princes. And every spring brought the same wound. 2017: the Remontada, 4-0 up at the break, overturned 6-1 at Camp Nou. 2019: Manchester United at the Parc, a 94th-minute Rashford penalty after a VAR review, eliminated despite the 2-0 win at Old Trafford. 2020: the final lost to Bayern on a goal by Kingsley Coman, a kid trained at PSG who came back to break the dream. 2022: leading 2-0 on aggregate, Paris watched Benzema rattle in a hat-trick in 17 minutes. The dressing room looked like a collection of talents when it should have been a team.
I didn't feel like we were a team. Everyone was playing for themselves, we were a bit lost on the pitch. You can't afford to have one, two, or three players who don't run.
Vitinha
On the Messi-Neymar-Mbappé era, interview December 2025
Summer 2024. Kylian Mbappé leaves, and the club's all-time top scorer chooses Real Madrid. The experts are unanimous: PSG have downgraded. Luis Enrique sees an opportunity and tells his players immediately. 'None of you are special. Our game does not consist in letting one player do what he wants.' The philosophy is radical, and it has been the same since day one: a total press that demands multi-functional players, and the team coming before the name on the shirt.
The moment he leaves, the team becomes the cornerstone. Having one player who can do whatever he wants on the pitch means there are situations I cannot control. Next season, I will control all of them. Without exception.
Luis Enrique
Movistar+ documentary, on Mbappé's departure
Luis Enrique is a complete fraud! He's a deception like we've never had at PSG! Time will prove me right.
Daniel Riolo
After Foot, RMC Sport, June 2024
Pre-season Champions League odds
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Favorites: Manchester City
In the Champions League, results are slow to come and the system takes time to click. Defeats pile up against the European elite: Arsenal first, then Atlético, then Bayern. The coach who wanted to control everything is watching the machine slip.
Champions League - League Phase · 2024-10-01
Arsenal 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain
20' K. Havertz 1-0
35' B. Saka 2-0
Champions League - League Phase · 2024-11-06
Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Atlético Madrid
14' W. Zaïre-Emery 1-0
18' N. Molina 1-1
90+3' A. Correa 1-2
Champions League - League Phase · 2024-11-26
Bayern Munich 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain
15th out of 36 in the overall standings. The pre-season verdicts were lining up one by one. But inside the dressing room, something had begun to shift.
We have created a real group, a real team. I think that above all we're a collective, a family.
Warren Zaïre-Emery
Interview, PSG official website