According to PSG’s coach, his players have now regained the belief that they can once again win the Champions League.
Last season, PSG fulfilled a dream that had eluded them for years — lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time. That once-unfamiliar path has now become familiar. Having crossed “the toughest stage,” coach Luis Enrique has set his sights on winning the title for a second straight year.
He believes that the absence of belief is the main hurdle for players at clubs that have never been European champions before, which is why winning the Champions League for the first time is always the hardest.
Over the past decade, PSG have left no stone unturned in their pursuit of European glory. They have spent huge sums assembling powerful squads, at one time fielding stars like Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappé together — but success continued to evade them.
Under Enrique’s coaching, PSG finally reached their dream destination in the 2024–25 season. With Messi, Neymar and Mbappé gone, the club stopped building plans around one or two big stars and instead embraced a collective style of play — and achieved their long-awaited success.
In the final, PSG demolished Inter Milan 5-0 to taste the indescribable joy of winning the Champions League, setting a record for the biggest victory margin in the competition’s final in its long history.
On Wednesday, PSG will begin their campaign to defend the crown with a home game against Atalanta. The match kicks off at 1 a.m. Bangladesh time.
Speaking at a press conference the day before, Enrique said his team are now far more confident.
“Winning the title for the first time is always difficult because neither the players nor the fans truly believe they can do it. But we showed them the way. Now, everyone at PSG — even the younger players — want to win because they know they can. For me, winning the first title is harder than winning the second or third.”
“After becoming European champions, our goal is to bring the club, the city, and the fans together again to make history once more by winning the Champions League for a second consecutive time. We must stay ambitious.”
In this season’s group stage, PSG’s other seven opponents are Bayern Munich (home), Barcelona (away), Bayer Leverkusen (away), Tottenham Hotspur (home), Sporting CP (away), Newcastle United (home) and Athletic Bilbao (away).
