A new winner, but is Champions League now a Super League by default?

The French side is the first to capture the prized trophy since Marseille in 1993, and they are also the 24th other club to do so.

Before you forget, PSG’s starting XI in Munich cost £403 million to put together, compared to the £137 million Inter paid for their starting side, the Champions League and its new format appear to be more diverse.

Many people disapproved of our project, according to PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who also criticized and questioned us.

“Win once more is the goal now.” Although it took 14 years of diligent effort, we are still creating something for the future.

PSG was purchased by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011. According to estimates from Transfermarkt, the club has spent 2.3 billion euros ($2.1 billion) on transfer fees since then.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport, “If you look at their wage bill from last season, it was probably one of the top two or three highest in European football.

“They won the Champions League for the first time, and the football was absolutely fantastic,” says the romantic side of things. However, you would anticipate them to be there or thereabouts financially.

Manchester City, who are currently owned by Abu Dhabi and are the second-richest club in the world, one place ahead of Real Madrid, won the Champions League for the first time in a row.

Fans can now expect more games, more goals, and a chance to see European heavyweights compete against one another in a more frequent manner thanks to the new Champions League format, which has 36 teams in the competition proper as opposed to 32 under the old format.

Following the demise of a new European Super League (ESL), which the majority of the teams involved withdrew after a backlash led by fans, it was introduced.

Plans to create a European Super League in 2021 were signed by 12 of Europe’s leading clubs, including six from the Premier League.

The English delegation included AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Liverpool, as well as Manchester United, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Tottenham as founding members.

The Champions League would have essentially replaced it as Europe’s elite competition, but it would not have had the same qualifying criteria as the Champions League, which allowed teams to compete based on their domestic standing.

The original members also wished to remain members of their respective domestic leagues.

The plans became contentious with rival clubs who claimed it devalued domestic competition as well as with supporters.

Critics claimed the competition was a closed book for Europe’s elite teams because the competition’s original competitors could not be “relegated” from it.

Instead of the usual four, six English Premier League teams will play in the Champions League next season.

After Uefa, the governing body for European football, gave two bonus spots to the domestic leagues that had the best performance in Europe in 2024 and 2025, Newcastle United, who finished fifth, will participate in the competition.

Tottenham, who finished 17th overall, will now compete alongside Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Arsenal after winning the Europa League.

Spain will take five spots, followed by Germany and Italy, and France will have three teams out of the 36 spots in the top five leagues in the league phase.

In addition, Portugal, Greece, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Belgium will each have one team while the Netherlands will have two during the league phase.

Only 11 of those 29 clubs have qualified for the league stage this year as the nation’s champions.

Only seven spots will be chosen through the qualifying rounds, that is.

According to Ian Dennis, senior football correspondent for BBC Radio 5 Live, “I don’t believe it’s right that England should have six teams in the Champions League.”

“I understand why. It’s basically a Super League in all but name, which we’re working toward.

However, if you give it some thought, the English coefficient, unless it’s unusual, will always be in the top three, if not the top two, regardless of the Premier League teams’ dominance in the various European competitions.

“And by extension, the English clubs will always gain from this extra space.”

Who won the Champions League last year, and will it continue?

In 2003-2004, Jose Mourinho’s Porto made a fairytale run to the final, which included defeating a strong Manchester United before defeating Monaco 3-0.

Real Madrid (six times), Barcelona (six), Chelsea (six), Bayern Munich (two), AC Milan (two), Manchester United (1), Inter Milan (1), Manchester City (1), and Paris St-Germain (1) have all been the winners in the 21 previous editions.

“The likelihood of another Porto winning the Champions League is roughly the same as another Leicester City winning the Premier League,” added Maguire.

We’ve seen a decrease in the wealth of clubs. Dynasties are now on the rise.

Who will be the next first-time winners after PSG’s triumph in Munich and Manchester City’s success in 2023?

Arsenal are in a good position because they have substantial investment in the squad, which is likely to be between £700 and $800 million, Maguire said.

When Mourinho took over, Inter Milan was the last Italian club to win the Champions League in 2010.

“Could we perhaps see another Italian club do it,” Maguire continued. Perhaps, but I’d say it’s unlikely, in my opinion. Given the demise of the French TV deal, it’s PSG or no one in France.

If Atletico Madrid can arrange their ducks, then “in Spain.”