Paris Saint-Germain received the UEFA Champions League trophy on Saturday, allowing their Qatari owners to bask in the glory of an emphatic triumph after almost 15 years of massive investment, frequent disappointment, and occasional humiliation.
Previous seasons’ biggest prize for PSG included Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and they did not succeed in winning it with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
After shifting the focus away from acquiring glamorous athletes and allowing a brilliant coach, Luis Enrique, to work with a hungry, young team, they have accomplished it.
PSG have been the best team in Europe since 2025, but their 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in Munich, the biggest victory in the competition’s history, set them on a winning note.
The lengthy wait was ultimately worthwhile for the Gulf owners who purchased an ailing club in 2011 with the help of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
When Messi’s Argentina defeated Mbappe’s France on a spectacular night in Qatar in the world cup final in 2022, Qatar’s team won the match, and now Qatari-owned PSG has won the most stunning Champions League title.
They lost three of their first five games of the tournament this year, which is easy to forget now.
“We started off poorly. Everyone questioned and criticized us. “Many people didn’t believe in our project,” said PSG President Nasser al-Khelaifi to Canal Plus.
“Win once more is the goal now.” We have been working hard for 14 years, but we are creating something for the future.
Khelaifi, who is close to Qatar’s ruler and holds several important positions in the game, including chairman of the European Club Association, was beaming as he presented the trophy.
READ MORE: PSG Slays Inter Milan To Win First-Ever Champions League Title
the first in a series?  ,
After Marseille in 1993, there is only the second French club to have won it. Given that this exciting youngster should now be together for a long time, it won’t take longer than 30 years for PSG to win another Champions League title.
Their starting lineup on Saturday was under 25 years old, and Marquinhos, who is 31 years old, has been a part of their team since 2013.
The Brazilian told M6 that despite suffering, “I have grown with this team.”
“I have sympathy for all the players who came here but were unable to win.”
For QSI to arrive, it took 14 years, eight coaches, and more than $2 billion ($2.27 billion) in transfer fees.
In the previous 12 campaigns, PSG reached the final, which was lost to Bayern Munich in Lisbon in 2020.
In addition to the semi-final defeats against Barcelona in 2017, Manchester United in 2019 and Real Madrid in 2022, there have also been humiliating collapses.
According to Luis Enrique, who was appointed in 2023, “I said when I came in that the only thing that was missing was the Champions League.”
The next objective is the Club World Cup,
It is another success for a club with mega-rich Gulf owners, following Manchester City’s victory over Inter two years ago.
PSG’s victory was always going to be in vain. The third-richest club in Deloitte’s Football Money League was made possible by their revenue of just over 800 million euros last year.
Real and City were only behind them, and they were ahead of the aristocratic leaders United, Bayern, and Barcelona.
Nearly twice Inter’s total revenues were nearly doubled by PSG’s most recently reported annual wage bill.
The difference is that they are now spending the money wiser on the likes of Saturday’s two-goal hero Desire Doue, Joao Neves, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia compared to previous years.
The club, which also won all three of France’s championships this year, recently signed new contracts with Luis Enrique and Luis Campos.
PSG will now be able to claim more than 100 million euros as compensation for winning the Champions League, along with the highly lucrative FIFA Club World Cup in the USA, where they will compete for more glory and riches.
The Qatar-owned PSG’s quest for dominance will continue throughout Europe.
Luis Enrique, whose side takes on Atletico Madrid in Los Angeles in two weeks, described it as “an incredible competition.”
“We want to compete and try to bring home the fifth trophy of the year.”
Source: Channels TV
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