PSG’s reset that delivered Europe, and a push for a third final in seven years | OneFootball

PSG’s reset has been underlined by their 2025 Champions League win and the prospect of a third final in seven years as they visit Bayern Munich on Wednesday. L'Équipe says the lessons were hard.

Fifteen years after QSI’s arrival, Paris are defending European champions, a global brand and an influential actor, helped by Nasser al-Khelaïfi’s multiple roles across club, broadcaster and governance.

Those powers long coexisted with a glass ceiling, Paris falling no further than the quarter-finals in nine of their first 11 campaigns under QSI. Since the 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in Munich on 31 May 2025, a collective style has delivered success. A second straight final would match feats achieved only by Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern and Manchester United in the past 25 years.

The club has shifted from a player-led set-up that undermined coaches to firm sporting control by Luis Enrique and adviser Luis Campos. The overlap of results, the exits of Lionel Messi and Neymar in 2023 and Kylian Mbappé in 2024, and a team-first game suggests earlier models were unworkable.

Early pledges to win the Champions League within five years piled on pressure, heightened by last 16 eliminations in 2017, 2018 and 2019, against Barcelona (4-0, 1-6), Real Madrid (1-3, 1-2) and Manchester United (2-0, 1-3).

The strategic pivot in 2023, prioritising a genuine sporting project and time, nurtured trust and eased fear. Across Europe the anxiety now often lies with opponents, though not in semi-finals and not against Bayern.

Source: L'Équipe