Champions League: How Paris St-Germain & Inter Milan reached final

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Champions League: How Paris St-Germain & Inter Milan reached final

Only Luis Enrique will know if he truly believed his own words when he said PSG would be better off without Kylian Mbappe.

The France captain, the club’s record scorer, had just made public his decision to leave in May 2024 when Luis Enrique said his side would be better – both in attack and defence.

“PSG will continue to be a great team and we’ll get even better. We will bring in players with a strong mentality and players who identify with the club – that’s how life works,” said Luis Enrique.

Fast-forward 12 months and few would argue against Luis Enrique’s prediction after his side won Ligue 1 with six games to spare and without losing a game.

The ease with which they won the domestic title – and a shortage of tough opposition – could have been seen as a negative in building for success in Europe.

Marseille, in 1993, remain France’s only winners of the Champions League.

Having finished runners-up in the 2020 Champions League, PSG reached the semi-finals twice and quarter-finals twice in the following four years.

But there was an acceptance following Luis Enrique’s appointment in 2023 that something had to change if they were to get over the line.

That summer forward Lionel Messi left to join Inter Miami and Neymar was sold to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.

It marked the start of the end for the ‘Galactico’ era, with Mbappe’s departure 12 months later bringing it to a close.

In their absence, Luis Enrique built an all-action, high-pressing side in his image, based on the collective rather than the individual.

In Europe this season PSG started poorly and finished the group stage in 15th place.

But, inspired by January signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, PSG have beaten four English clubs – Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal – in the knockout stages.

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