Without their longtime star, PSG reached the Champions League final playing the attacking football Luis Enrique had envisioned from day one.
PSG is set to play in only their second Champions League final in their history. One of their biggest bets this campaign came with its risks, and Luis Enrique unleashed it with Mbappé‘s departure: “Without Kylian, we will be better,” the Asturian predicted. For a striker who had been the idol of the fans and the star of the club, it was saying a lot. However, PSG has reached the Champions League final in its first year without the now-Real Madrid player. But, beyond this fact, it has achieved it playing the offensive style that their coach was looking for.
Luis Enrique has also made a change in this second year. With Mbappé’s departure, he became the leader, the boss, and that is something that he himself hinted at in his documentary. “With Kylian, we had a player who went free through the attack, now I control everything.” With total control over it.
Under that control, Luis Enrique, who tried to put Mbappé as a 9, was ready to move his chips at will. “Now we are not going to have a player of 40 or 50 goals, but we can score them among everyone.“ But Luis, who controls everything, missed that Dembélé could get very close. He let Kolo Muani go to Juve and was left with only one pure 9, Gonçalo Ramos, who is not a starter. He put Ousmane as a false 9 and the former Azulgrana is the top scorer in Europe in 2025 and could even win the Ballon d’Or.
Kvaratskhelia and Doué: Key additions
Two other decisions by Luis Enrique have given PSG the punch that they lacked last year. Also a good dose of talent. First, he bet on a kid from Rennes, Doué, whom the coach fell in love with when both teams faced each other last season. The coach asked who this 18-year-old kid was as soon as the match was over, and in the summer he arrived in Paris for 60 million. It took the young man a while to get into the starting eleven, but in 2025 he has overtaken Barcola, Kang in Lee, Zaire-Emery, or Ramos to play in the trident.
But the last touch was still pending. Kvaratskhelia arrives in January from Naples for 70 million. He has given more offensive power and more variants in addition to character and defensive work. With Demblélé, the two new signings have been key to defeating Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Arsenal.
However, as Luis Enrique said before the second leg, the secret of PSG is that no line has stood out above the others. In the middle, Fabián Ruiz has made the final leap and together with Vitinha are Luis Enrique’s engine room. Around both, the coach finishes shaping his midfield according to the needs. In the defense, another signing, Pacho, has protected Marquinhos and has been able to take the defense out of the comfort zone. And then there is Achraf, a free spirit. He is a full-back, but the coach has given him a role that he did not have from midfield to attack. “Luis Enrique is a genius, he has given me a level of play that I didn’t have in my head,” he said before the return leg against Arsenal. Against Arsenal he made it 2-0, in attacking positions.
Method and talks
Luis Enrique has focused on total control in his daily work with PSG. Unlike his time at Barça, where he found a team that was already made and had to make it work and with huge stars, here the challenge was to build it from scratch. When deciding with respect to other offers from the Premier League, he understood that Paris was where he was given the most autonomy to carry out what he had in his head. To the managers, moreover, in the first meeting, he conveyed the vitality, the security, and the conviction that the Asturian showed to make his team.
