PSG Are in The Champions League Final: How did they get there?
“In a journey, the destination is not what counts, but always the path travelled, and especially the detours.”
If Paris Saint-Germain‘s season had to be summed up in a few words, the phrase penned by French author Philippe Pollet-Villard in his book Journey to the Land of Dead Furniture might seem an apt one.
In Munich on Saturday, whatever the outcome of their clash with Inter, Luis Enrique’s men can be proud of the route they have taken.
It was not all plain sailing. To the point of proving, in some ways, tortuous, uneven and even almost dangerous. But nothing was enough to deter them. Where some have doubted, they have never given it a second thought, aided by the assurance of their strengths and the awareness of their weaknesses — which is perhaps the most important thing of all.
And yet, at times, it was a close call for the Rouge et Bleu‘s season to take a turn for the worse. But they have stood firm, together, as a team, in stark contrast to the individualism to which PSG have accustomed their supporters in recent years.
Today, on the eve of the most important game in their history, the club from the French capital can be proud. Proud of their journey, of their successes, of the pitfalls they have avoided to rise to the top of European football. To find out more, Sports Talk United has selected the five games that have shaped the Parisians’ season and allowed them to finally… dream bigger.
Arsenal vs PSG in October 2024 (Champions League league phase)
PSG have not often been outplayed this season. Or rather been dominated.
However, last October, Arsenal inflicted what some might describe as a lesson on the capital club. Not a recital, but an illustration of what Luis Enrique’s men were still lacking if they were to lay claim to a place in the top flight. Starting with a good dose of efficiency, which the Gunners managed to show in winning by two goals.
A “problem” that Ousmane Dembele, who has been decisive on eight occasions (four goals, four assists) since the start of the season, could perhaps have solved had his coach not decided to do without him. A decision taken by his coach and motivated by the Frenchman’s lack of respect for his obligations to the team, according to the explanations given by the Spaniard.
Would he have taken this decision if it had been a match of a different importance? It’s possible. Enrique is a man of conviction. And deep down, the former La Roja coach knew he was right.
Not just to show Dembele that no status would allow him to benefit from any kind of preferential treatment, but above all to send a strong message to his dressing room: that from now on it was all about the collective.
Olympique de Marseille vs PSG in October 2024 (Ligue 1)
In any season, some matches attract more anticipation than others. For PSG, “Le Classique” against Olympique de Marseille is undoubtedly one of the most important.
A rivalry that began in the early 1990s, engineered by Bernard Tapie, then president of OM, and Canal Plus, the new owner of the Parisian club, and whose importance has grown over the years.
However, the last decade has seen a reversal of this trend, with Paris dominating their southern rivals to such an extent that the enmity between the two clubs now seems to exist — or perhaps survive — only through their respective supporters. Their latest encounter at the Stade Velodrome is a case in point.
In an overheated stadium decorated with a tifo in honour of Fabrizio Ravanelli, who played for the club between 1997 and 2000, Paris reminded the Olympians just how wide the gulf between them still was.
A resounding 0-3 victory, in the shape of a demonstration which, while failing to change the course of PSG’s season, did allow them, five days after being held to a 1-1 draw by PSV in the Champions League, to remind everyone that nothing and no-one would be able to stand in their way.
PSG vs Manchester City in January 2025 (Champions League league phase)
Sometimes all it takes is one stimulus to change the course of a season. For PSG, it certainly happened on January, 22.
Indeed, when Marquinhos’ team-mates faced Manchester City, it was their European destiny that was on the line. Admittedly, City had become a shadow of their former self just a few months earlier, but the Parisians still had to bear the weight of intense pressure.
Yet Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland’s goals gave the impression that the Rouge et Bleu‘s demons were finally back. But that was to underestimate them, their determination and their unfailing confidence. Four minutes were enough for them to close the deficit, 18 to turn the tide. A final goal from Gonçalo Ramos sealed the win for good.
That evening, in a volcanic Parc des Princes, everyone knew that something important had just happened. Something that only glimpses of had been seen before. Something we could only guess at, but which had not yet exploded into public view. A point so simple to imagine, yet so difficult to achieve.
That evening, a team was born.
Liverpool vs PSG in March 2025 (Champions League round of 16)
Enrique had predicted it. If PSG came out of this league phase, “we’re going to be a very, very difficult team to play against,” he said after the 4-2 win over Manchester City.
Once again, he was right.
The double-header against Liverpool proved the point. After all, was there any better way to gauge your level than by facing the competition’s big favourites? Certainly not.
Yet what would we have learned from Paris’ season if the 2023/24 semi-finalists had fallen to Liverpool? Improvements in their game, of course, a 13th league title and another French Cup triumph, but above all another European disappointment. Another for a club that, in recent years, has oscillated between good runs and shortened campaigns.
But for the Parisians, the trip to Anfield, a week after their undeserved defeat by the Reds (0-1) in front of their own fans, was not the end of the journey. Dembele, who scored in the 12th minute of the return leg, would make sure of that. A goal, a single goal, that PSG clung on to, buoyed by their 3,500 fans who had flocked to the visitors’ park in the mythical Liverpudlian stadium, to force extra time and then penalties.
But that was not enough. They wanted more. And once again, it took a team effort.
Gianluigi Donnarumma shone, Desire Doue stepped up and Paris qualified. The reward deserved for a double encounter that illustrated everything the Parisian team had become. An unpredictable, irresistible force, as capable of withstanding attacks as it was of leading them, of imposing its own rhythm as it was of suffering that of its opponent.
In short, a top-class team.
Arsenal vs PSG in April 2025 (Champions League semi-final)
Four English clubs were involved in the Champions League this season. PSG beat them all. But it was against Arsenal, their tormentor in October, that they were able to fully measure the extent of their progress.
At the Emirates Stadium, Paris dominated, opening the scoring quickly through Dembele (again), before suffering the Gunners’ strongest moment, without breaking down. With the storm behind them, Enrique’s men went forward again, confident and sure of their strength, determined not to give an ounce of ground to their opponents, who were somewhat revitalised.
Even their star striker going off injured couldn’t change that.
The final whistle blew, and with it the relief of having finally broken a curse. That of finally managing to win a Champions League semi-final match on a two-legged format.
For some, it was the logical continuation of a high-flying knockout phase; for others, the sign of something bigger, something that you dream of, more secretly, but still barely dare to mention. After all, there were still 90 minutes to play.
But deep down, everyone realises that PSG are going to qualify. And for the good reason that PSG are superior to their opponents. Quite simply.
