CHENNAI: Luis Enrique has a touch of arrogance attached to him, and it shows in the way Paris St Germain plays its football. That arrogance, however, isn’t necessarily bad, it is that side of his which has made the French giants beat its drought, and elevate its status as the ‘European top-dog’.
Back in 2024 when the club’s then best player Kylian Mbappe left it to seek a fresh challenge, many a coach would have sunk. But not Enrique, whose cold words still echo around the Parc des Princes, "I'd rather have 4 players who score 12 goals each than 1 player who scores 40 goals."
Two years later, he has exactly that, five players have scored more than 12 goals each with Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembele headlining the act with 20 goals. Like Enrique had said back then, “Next year, I will control everything, without exception”, and he’s controlled his PSG side to become the European Champions in consecutive editions.
Enrique has a knack of winning big trophies, after all he helped Barcelona to break their four-year jinx, and bring home the Champions League Trophy with one of the most feared attacks in football history—Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. But now to do it with a fluid front three of Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue makes his achievement even more incredible.
On the particular night against Arsenal in Budapest, his PSG side might not have been as convincing with their attack but they certainly looked like the only side that was attacking. Throughout the encounter, Enrique kept pushing his men up the field, even if it came at the potential cost of an Arsenal counter-attack. If not for that, the contest would have ended far before the penalty shoot out.
“It is amazing, I think we deserve, maybe both the teams deserved to win but the way we have played the whole season, we totally deserve to win the Champions League,” the Spanish coach told TNT Sports.
Winning the Champions League once with PSG seemed like a herculean task for one of the best assembled squads in footballing history (Neymar, Messi and Mbappe) but for a team, united like they are under Enrique, winning twice is a cakewalk, as his side have scored 45 goals in the ongoing season. It is clear that Enrique wasn’t building a side that would win one Champions League but building a dynasty that will last for a few years, given the starting XI’s average age of just 23 years, and 363 days, which is the second-lowest for a team in Europe this season.
When asked about a three-peat, the Spaniard with the highest win-rate for a manager with 50+ games (63.3%), replied with a “Why not?”.
PSG are currently the best team in Europe, and it is clear that it has an Enrique-DNA all over it. “Look if we get knocked out of UCL, it is no big deal but it is going to be by playing good football,” said the Spaniard in a viral video, and it is almost always going to stand true.