With things that “Real” or “Bavaria” do not know… How did Saint-Germain reach the top of European football?

The French giants reached their peak with Enrique

Italian sports writer Gabriel Marcotti believes that Paris Saint-Germain are now ruling the Champions League in a way that other clubs can only hope to emulate after winning the continental competition for a second consecutive title after a 4-3 penalty shootout draw with English side Arsenal on Saturday.

The text of the article published in ESPN was as follows.

Now that Paris Saint-Germain have won their second successive Champions League title in comprehensive fashion despite a penalty shoot-out, their victory over Arsenal in the final was absolutely dominant, not just in terms of chances, but all the way to the final… it’s fair to ask, what does this mean?

What does Paris Saint-Germain’s success tell us about modern football? Did they catch lightning in a bottle? Can (and should) others emulate them?

The answer is not easy, because there are many inherent contradictions.

Read also

The only loser… Paris fears the fate of Real Madrid in their upcoming European battle

The Saint-Germain star is equal to Ronaldo and the Barcelona legend’s achievement

Enrique’s fingerprints

Luis Enrique’s style with Paris Saint-Germain in some ways epitomizes what clubs strive for. A 4-3-3 formation full of athleticism and flexibility, a central striker who can use his feet well and can get anywhere in the front line, a team that can press extremely quickly, while also slowing down the game completely when needed (that “control” that some coaches talk about all the time).

A team full of talented players who have the freedom to follow their creativity, but only in certain times and areas, so that the team remains a harmonious orchestra and not a concert of individual poetry.

With a few exceptions, such as English Premier League champions Paris Saint-Germain, who lost in the final, these concepts represent the pinnacle of modern football in Europe.

Of course there will be tweaks depending on the players and the vision, but this is the direction things are going. This is what many coaches strive to achieve with the resources available to them.

A unique situation

Meanwhile, the situation of “Paris Saint-Germain” is unique. They started the season and Enrique says they haven’t had proper preparation since they reached the final of the Club World Cup, so they will enter the season gradually with a big rotation, and the first months will be treated as a training camp.

It seems a long way off now, but they needed scoring chances to avoid defeat in the European Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur (who were almost relegated from the Premier League). For the second season in a row, they had to go through the preliminary round to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

But playing in the French league, which consists of just 18 teams, and with a budget that far exceeds that of other clubs, means they don’t need to push at full strength every weekend. Instead, they can go “half-speed” for most of the season, peaking when the matches matter. These are unusual conditions that other competing clubs do not have and are therefore difficult to emulate.

However, it still takes a great deal of coaching acumen to take full advantage of these circumstances, and Enrique deserves huge credit for that.

Radical transformation

The club has gone from an era of superstars (Messi, Neymar, Mbappe) to a younger, more flexible and perhaps more successful group of players. The decision was not purely football. The need to cut costs played a role.

But he gave Enrique the clay he wanted and complete freedom to work. It’s hard to imagine Bayern Munich or Liverpool, let alone Real Madrid, putting the coach at the center of their coaching project in the way that Paris Saint-Germain did.

They have also been exceptionally successful in branding. Not just the recognizable clothes and mix of urban style and Parisian chic that resonates from Durban to Dubai to Dhaka, but also the short videos and TikTok-friendly style that adds to their appeal.

As they play in the French league, most fans outside of France only watch full PSG matches in the Champions League. Instead, they get shots and summaries that emphasize creativity and skill and minimize flaws.

It is a club fit for the age of social media and has successfully transformed itself into an ambitious global luxury brand.

They had a great commercial use of it. According to Football Benchmark, PSG get more than €160 per seat at the Parc des Princes (capacity: 48,000). That’s more than one-and-a-half times what Arsenal, who aren’t commercially weak, get per fan entering the Emirates Stadium.

The gold standard

There is also another contradiction. the slogan “Ici c’est Paris” is heard everywhere at home matches. Their logo features the Eiffel Tower. They take advantage of their city and their roots to a degree that no one else does. And to most true Paris Saint-Germain fans living in Paris, it feels completely authentic.

Paris Saint-Germain are currently the gold standard and there is much to admire and learn from the way the club has developed. But at the same time, they are unique in their challenges and advantages. In a world that is changing rapidly and whose future is uncertain, PSG have set a direction and style that is perfectly suited to them.

This method has brought them to the top of the biggest sport in the world.

Source link