Paris Saint-Germain hopes for their latest Ligue 1 title, which has three games left on Sunday. The historic treble will only be the first leg, with the semi-finals of the Champions League and the French Cup final awaiting. Well it’s PSG’s 12th French title, at least two more than any other team, and it’s also their 10th title in 12 seasons. Which shows how the football scene in the country has changed since Qatar took over the club in 2011.
The extent of PSG’s financial advantage over the rest of French football is crushing. And that means finishing each season as champions is effectively a minimum requirement.
When the analyst Deloitte published the list of the highest earning football clubs in the world last year. So PSG was third with revenue of just over 800 million euros ($855m). The only other French team in the top 20 was Marseille with €258 million.
UEFA’s own European club finance report published in February revealed PSG had the second-highest wage bill on the continent behind only Barcelona at €600m.
After the departure of Lionel Messi and Neymar, there has been a significant change in wage costs this season. But a recent study by the sports daily L’Equipe has claimed. That the 10 highest paid players in Ligue 1 are currently playing in Paris.
In this context, it is almost impossible for anyone to compete with Luis Enrique’s team domestically. But the Spanish coach still deserves credit.
“Given our history and our squad, we are favourites. Although not everyone manages to do that, especially with so many games still to play,” he said last week. HD Live Sports
“But I’ve said from day one that we are favourites. We have the best squad and the biggest budget. It’s almost an obligation.”
The transition from Messi and Neymar
He took over a team seat for the transition period after Messi and Neymar.
PSG did not win the league last season. lost seven games and trailed the Lens by just one point.
The campaign, to borrow a French expression, has not always been like a long, peaceful river.
Luis Enrique has had to add a raft of new signings and deal with the awkwardness surrounding Kylian Mbappe’s future.
Mbappe was frozen out at the start of the campaign when the club put pressure on him. That they sign a new contract or agree to sell instead of finishing the last year of their contract.
This partially explains it. Why PSG have won just three of their first seven Ligue 1 games.
However, they have since picked up the pace. And their only league loss so far is a 3-2 home defeat against Nice in September.
Ousmane Dembele has been impressive since his arrival from Barcelona, ​​playing mainly on the right wing. And Bradley Barcola stars on the other side.
Youngster Warren Zaire-Emery has been a fixture in midfield and has been included in France’s full squad. While Portuguese creator Vatinha has arguably been PSG’s best player.
But then there is Mbappe, who has 43 goals in all competitions. And that despite being used sparingly in the league over the past two months since informing the club of his decision at the end of the season.
Mbappe has completed 90 minutes just twice in PSG’s last 11 league games.
Luis Enrique justified it by saying. That they need to prepare for a future without their star player and look for alternatives. But in the meantime, PSG should make the most of having the France captain in their ranks.
That they are now a better, more balanced team without the addition of Messi and Neymar.
Although they sank in the group stage of the Champions League. But they qualified for the knockout stage. And took four points against Borussia Dortmund along the way. They should now be favorites to beat the Germans in the upcoming semi-finals.
That would allow Mbappe’s reign to end with the French Cup final against Lyon on May 25 and the Champions League final a week later. In which there are chances of a clean sweep of trophies.
“Of course that’s what we’re talking about, it’s a source of motivation for us,” Luis Enrique said.