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| PSG convincingly won the Champions League thanks to collective play, not depending on stars |
Coach Enrique was right
When he was still leading Barca, the Spanish coach was not highly regarded, because many people thought that the team he led was essentially a one-man team. The implication of that statement was that Barca depended heavily on Messi's form. When he was at his best, Messi could create a rain of goals with his teammates. On the contrary, on a bad day, when Messi was not inspired to play, Barca could lose to any opponent. Coach Enrique's role at that time could not be compared to the Argentine legend, even though he was the captain of the Catalan club.
Two years ago, when he first arrived in the splendid capital of Paris, the Spanish coach declared that he came to France not only to win the Champions League, but also to turn PSG into a real football team.
Amid a team that was tired of big personalities like Neymar, Messi or Mbappe, the Spanish strategist set the goal of building identity and sustainability for the team because he believed that once PSG became a team with identity and high stability, success would come to them.
In his first season (2023-2024), the Spanish coach was criticized for his rigid possession-based style of play, which prevented creative players from performing to their full potential. Many were skeptical about his ability to adapt to a club that is used to living on inspiration and stars.
However, Enrique remained silent and did what needed to be done. Then, when PSG won the Champions League for the first time in history, ending the 2024-2025 season with a great "quadruple", fans and experts had to take their hats off and admit that he was right to "edit" the faulty version of PSG into a team that always wins. That is the result of the persistent and correct reconstruction that Luis Enrique initiated and implemented throughout the past time.
The French giants spent 14 years investing (£1.92 billion) in the transfer market to win the Champions League. But more importantly, coach Enrique convinced the Qatari owners to abandon their star inspiration, to form a team with absolute power, to gradually become an empire of European football.
It was just the beginning at the Parc des Princes.
PSG sends challenge
There are many reasons to believe that PSG will be successful in the coming years. As analyzed, coach Enrique does not want the team to play according to inspiration and rely on the "light" from the stars. For him, the PSG name has the greatest value and he uses his power to deal with the stars who do not want to follow the way he is applying.
When Messi, Neymar, Mbappe left, Ousmane Dembele was expected by many to play a leading role for his teammates. The French star believes that he is in an "untouchable" position, but coach Enrique does not think so. The Spanish coach decided not to use Ousmane Dembele when he showed signs of not being satisfied with the coach's management style. In the following matches, PSG still won, although it was very difficult, but Ousmane Dembele almost had no chance to play.
And by reintroducing Ousmane Dembele as a centre-forward, he has turned a player who many thought would never be a big-game player into a candidate for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, after an impressive performance in the Champions League. "He brought together the team and the values. The players looked in the same direction and that was the team's achievement. More importantly, coach Enrique defended his point of view and his way of working and he was right. PSG now does not belong to any star," Ousmane Dembele said after the final against Inter.
Amid a team that was tired of big personalities like Neymar, Messi or Mbappe, the Spanish strategist set the goal of building identity and sustainability for the team because he believed that once PSG became a team with identity and high stability, success would come to them.
Compared to the "giants" of European football and the Champions League such as Real, Bayern, Liverpool... PSG cannot be compared, but with coach Enrique, the Qatari owners can trust in his professional ability and team management. When creating a solid foundation, PSG will maximize its strength. Those are not necessarily the stars who will join the French team in the near future, but can come from the club's youth training program.
Coach Enrique developed a generation of young players with great potential such as Doue, Zaire-Emery or Barcola. At the same time, he also gradually became more open in tactics, responding to the requests of the players. From someone who liked to impose his playing style, he began to be more flexible, helping PSG become sharper in transition and counter-attack situations.
For the Spanish coach, he can do whatever is best for PSG, except those who show signs of "starism" will not be able to survive under his reign when leading the French team.
Source: https://baophuyen.vn/the-thao/202506/psg-vo-dich-champions-leaguegia-tri-cua-bong-da-tap-the-71e435d/
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