‘Footballing architect’ – how Luis Enrique led PSG to Champions League glory

Paris St-Germain’s journey to Champions League glory started when the final giant symbol of the club’s so-called “bling bling” era was swept away.

The only remaining member of the superstar attacking trio, which included Lionel Messi and Neymar, left Paris following Kylian Mbappe’s decision to join Real Madrid last summer, allowing PSG to change their approach and direction.

Luis Enrique took his chance, persuading PSG’s president Nasser al-Khelaifi and Luis Campos, that he could create a younger, better, more cohesive side in the post-Mbappe era. He was referred to as “a footballing architect.”

Luis Enrique walks barefoot on the grass of Campus PSG, the club’s training ground 25 minutes away from their Parc des Princes home, every morning as part of his devotion to “earthing”, believing it brings him closer to nature and helps fight off allergies.

The 55-year-old Asturian has just completed the Champions League in Paris, leading to PSG’s devoted supporters who think he can walk on water.

His appointment in July 2023 was a clear sign that PSG were abandoning the superstar culture, a significant change in direction that appealed to a coach who had abandoned the team spirit.

French football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Sport: “They wanted someone to build something for the future, with patience. The best choice was him.

“The considered people of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho’s caliber. These guys are winners but they win now. They don’t actually construct anything. Luis Enrique was in line with PSG’s requirements.

Former Brazil midfielder Rai, who was a member of the only PSG team to win a European trophy in the Cup Winners ‘ Cup in 1996, is also a Luis Enrique admirer.

For a team to be regarded complete and have a good chance of winning major titles, according to Rai, they need both talent and 100% commitment from all players, whether they are defending or attacking, with or without the ball.

The fact that Luis Enrique managed this in such a short amount of time, especially with such young players, is what is most impressive about the company. This shows that his tactical scheme was well understood, that the players believe in him, and that his system is very effective”.

The coach also demanded a degree of control that had previously been averted by Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, Unai Emery, and Christophe Galtier away from the field.

Luis Enrique has absolute dominance over PSG’s playing situation.

Pierre-Etienne Minonzio, a Paris-based journalist for the renowned sports publication L’Equipe, told BBC Sport: “People at PSG understood there had been a problem of authority in the last few years.

” Galtier was a French manager, and a good one, but lacked the experience to impose his views. Although he was a very good manager, he was weak enough to confront Mbappe and direct him.

“Mauricio Pochettino and I were the same.” It was always said his obsession was to have peace in the dressing room. He made no choices that were in opposition to Messi and Mbappe.

Enrique didn’t possess that, though. He told PSG clearly ‘ If I am the boss and I will be the boss’. He is now the embodiment of the entire club and entire team.

Luis Enrique is obsessive about PSG and his own self-control down to the utmost standards, even getting his watch to notify him if he doesn’t stretch or move for 30 minutes.

In 2007, he successfully took on the Frankfurt Ironman challenge – a 2.4-mile swim, a 118-mile cycle and a full marathon. He completed the grueling Marathon de Sables, a 155-mile race that took place in the Sahara Desert in 2008.

After losing his nine-year-old daughter Xana to a rare form of bone cancer in 2019, he is, however, someone with true perspective.

Luis Enrique has said:” Her body is gone, but she hasn’t died. She is still with us.

She may not physically exist, but she does. Because every day we talk about her, we laugh, and we remember because I think Xana still sees us”.

PSG’s clear the air moment was Mbappe’s departure. The landscape at Parc des Princes changed after the French superstar left, despite his additional goals and a little genius.

Luis Enrique saw it as the opportunity to exert complete control on how PSG played, with brilliant, but ultimately individualistic, Mbappe gone.

Luis Enrique focused on developing young talent he could mold rather than established, frequently ego-driven, figures, despite the fact that this control was over a new “team” in the literal sense of the word.

A slow start to the campaign supported the coach’s belief that competing for the biggest prize, namely the Champions League, might require more than this season.

He may regard the Champions League victory as being ahead of schedule.

The new era of PSG, led by Manchester City, was officially inaugurated when they defeated them 4-2 on a rainy night in Paris. As a stand-in for his Barcelona struggles, Ousmane Dembele made a stunning comeo.

And so it went on, as this trio helped PSG take a wrecking ball to the Premier League’s elite, Liverpool, Aston Villa and then Arsenal beaten in the knockout stage to reach Munich.

Kvaratskhelia arrived from Napoli in January for 70 million euros (£59 million) plus add-ons to complete the puzzle.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin, a long-time Kvaratskhelia fan, said: “He has everything I want from a winger, but a little more as well.”

” He always wants to take players on. He desires to attack opponents. He performs numerous tricks and movies. He does unusual things and he breaks lines. Never ever fearful, always upbeat, and interested in entertainment.

Although Doue had a slow start, the coach was completely invested in the young talent that would make up his new team, along with Barcola and Dembele, because Luis Enrique gave him one-on-one attention.

Rai remarked, “The young forwards at PSG [are] outstanding because they combine technical quality, tactical obedience, and physical intensity with personality. All of them have an impressive ability to dribble and improvise”.

Additionally, there is no preference for treatment. In Luis Enrique’s eyes, everyone is equal.

Dembele was dropped before the Champions League game at Arsenal in October after Luis Enrique expressed dissatisfaction with his work-rate in a Ligue 1 game against Rennes.

Dembele came back to PSG in a transformed and upbeat state, leading them to the Champions League, Coupe de France, and now Champions League.

At 24 years, 262 days, PSG is the youngest team to have advanced beyond the Champions League play-off round this season, according to average age.

And their intense, high-pressing style is illustrated by the fact they rank first in the tournament this season for shot-ending high turnovers – they frequently turn high-presses into attacking opportunities.

The famous Virage Auteuil, where PSG’s ‘ ultras ‘ gather at one end of Parc des Princes, was transported to Munich for one night only for this final.

To witness PSG cut through the Premier League’s best on their way to Munich, one had to experience the same level of expectation that was displayed in a wall of sound and color kaleidoscope of every game.

PSG’s supporters were denied the opportunity to watch the club’s only previous Champions League final, which occurred at Portugal’s Stadium of Light during the Covid pandemie, which they lost 1-0 behind closed doors to Bayern Munich.

So a special welcome awaited PSG’s players of the sort that has become familiar at Parc des Princes. Together, We Are Invincible, translates to “Ensemble, Nous Sommes Invincibles.”