Coach Luis Enrique helps PSG change - Photo: REUTERS
But it was not an excellent season for PSG. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the football world was heavily affected, including the Champions League.
More than a decade lost
From the quarter-finals onwards, the Champions League matches were played in a single-leg format instead of the home and away matches. A series of powerful giants such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barca, Man City were unexpectedly eliminated early, creating conditions for PSG to advance without any obstacles (they only faced Atalanta and Leipzig in the quarter-finals and semi-finals). When they reached the final, PSG really faced their first strong opponent. And they lost to Bayern Munich in a boring match.
In 2011, PSG changed its life when billionaire Nasser Al-Khelaifi took over the team. It took him only 1 year to make PSG dominate France. However, PSG struggled and still failed to create any memorable moments in the Champions League.
Chelsea won the Champions League in their ninth year under billionaire Roman Abramovich, and then another title nine years later. Man City also won the Champions League after 14 years of changing their lives thanks to Arab billionaires. Teams with rich traditions such as Real Madrid, Barca, Liverpool, Bayern Munich always show their position in the Champions League. And even teams with less financial potential such as Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Dortmund always show their uniqueness in the Champions League.
PSG is completely the opposite. They keep going without success, despite the efforts of billionaire Al-Khelaifi to pump money and call for help. Over the past 14 years, he has poured 2.3 billion euros into the transfer market (only counting the purchase price). That's not counting the unreasonably high salary bills of some superstars. For example, Mbappe, who received more than 300 million euros in salary in 7 years playing for PSG. That's also Messi, Neymar, Ibrahimovic, Di Maria... The world's highest-paid superstars are always on PSG's squad. In the 2021-2022 season, PSG set a record with a player salary fund of nearly 400 million euros. Nearly half of that number was to pay for the trio Messi, Neymar, Mbappe. The funny thing is, that was also PSG's most boring period in the Champions League, when they stopped at the round of 16 for 2 consecutive years.
Milestone 2023
In the summer of 2023, Messi, Neymar and Verratti also left. And a Luis Enrique who was always burning with fighting spirit came to take over the head coach's chair.
In his first year, coach Luis Enrique encountered a "chicken tendon" named Kylian Mbappe. Although he confirmed that he would leave at the end of the season, Mbappe still showed a professional attitude on the field. But the existence of such a superstar with no future value made it difficult for the coaching staff.
In the summer of 2023, PSG still bought players with many contracts that were not really to coach Enrique's liking such as Kolo Muani, Ugarte, Ekitike, Asensio... It cost the team up to 450 million euros. Nearly half of those stars followed Mbappe to leave the team in the summer of 2024. And at this point, PSG was truly in Enrique's hands. PSG had a quiet summer when they only brought in young, not-so-famous players such as Joao Neves, Doue, Pacho. In the winter, they brought in Kvaratskhelia - a Georgian player.
PSG's squad no longer has any superstars. But thanks to that, big egos no longer hinder tactical decisions. When Dembele showed signs of being uncooperative at the beginning of the season, coach Luis Enrique immediately removed him from the squad. So Dembele had to obediently follow all of his instructions after that.
With Dembele, Doue, Kvaratskhelia and Barcola, coach Enrique is free to develop his football philosophy, based on a group of technically talented midfielders including Vitinha, Neves, Ruiz... PSG no longer has any problems in the way they operate. Like goalkeeper Donnarumma stated, they have become a more united group after Mbappe's departure.
After more than a decade of pouring money and effort, billionaire Nassr Al-Khelaifi has finally built a team that is worthy of being one of Europe's top giants. Regardless of winning or losing in the Champions League final, PSG's future is still very clear.
50% reduction in salary fund
One detail to look at PSG's change is the salary fund. From a salary fund of nearly 400 million euros when they had the trio Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, PSG has now reduced the player salary fund to only 196 million euros, a reduction of half.
The highest paid player on the team is currently Dembele with a salary of 18 million euros/year, followed by Kvaratskhelia (16.4 million), Marquinhos (13 million)...
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/psg-di-mai-cung-thanh-duong-20250530095924379.htm
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