04/28/2024
Paris SG won their twelfth French league this Sunday, with three dates to go, sealed after Monaco’s 3-2 defeat against Lyon. Now the Parisian team dreams of a treble with the French Cup and the Champions League.
The draw against Le Havre on Saturday at the Parc des Princes (3-3) had delayed this new crown, but Lyon closed the suspense by relegating the Monegasques to 12 points behind the Parisians when only nine points remain in dispute.
The Parisians They were never afraid to win the title. throughout a season that they have dominated from start to finish, unlike what happened last season where they suffered with Lens.
The start of the season was not without ease for a team that changed leadership with the arrival of former Spain coach Luis Enrique. PSG did not rise to the top of the table until November 11 in Reims (3-0).
That afternoon, Kylian Mbappé He scored a hat trick and Luis Enrique asked him to do more, in a first episode of a tense relationship, where the announcement of the superstar’s departure next summer (boreal) It led the coach to dose his playing time.
Despite this context of broad consequences on the sporting and economic level, no rival managed to keep up of the Parisian roller, determined to win the title, and as soon as possible.
The team, whose attacking game and its intensity were taking on the seal of the former Barcelona coach, They dominated their duels against greats of French football such as Lyon, Marseille, Lens, and Monaco, conceding only one defeat, against Nice in the Parc des Princes on a now distant September 15.
For several months now, PSG has had a ten-point lead over Monaco, Brest or Nice, annihilating all suspense over the identity of the French league champion.
It was the most logical outcome, also because of the astronomical budget of the Parisian clubwho spent 90 million to acquire Randal Kolo Muani and who can meet Kylian Mbappé’s salary.
But it was also seen helped by the irregularity of teams like Marseille or Lyon, from very early on out of the race for the title. Luis Enrique had expressed days ago the lack of “urgency” to certify the title. “The important thing is not when it happens. The most important thing is how we play.”
The technician is also aware of its advantages: “We have the best staff, the best budgetso it is almost mandatory to win the championship, but we achieved it by being superior.”
The triple crown
That early title It allows PSG to focus on the French Cup and the Champions League. Not winning the first in the final, which would be on May 25 against Lyon, whom they recently crushed 4-1, would be a disappointment after having lost the last two seasons in the round of 16 of the local cup.
The Champions League, the priority objective of the club, and its property Qatari QSI since its arrival in 2011, looks more complicated, with heavyweights like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich still in the running. But first, PSG awaits a semi-final against the German Borussia Dortmund, on May 1 and 7.
The prospect of playing the return leg at the Parc des Princes and the euphoria born after eliminating FC Barcelona in April (3-2 defeat at the Parc des Princes, 4-1 victory at Montjuïc) It could give Parisians extra confidence.
Luis Enrique does not hide his ambition for the triplet: “It is a motivation to do something that has never been done in France to mark the history of our club, the city and the country.” But he warns: “The road is still long and tortuous.”
Words from Qatar
“Winning the league is fantastic, but conquering Ligue 1 for the twelfth time is even more special for all those linked to Paris Saint-Germain,” celebrated this Sunday the president of the Parisian club, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.
“Congratulations to all the players, to our coach Luis Enrique and to his coaching staff, to (the president’s sports advisor) Luis Campos and his department, as well as to all the members of the club,” continued the president of Paris SG in a statement released minutes after winning the title, underlining that ” “Since the beginning of the season it has been united.”
“Let’s enjoy this moment as a family. And also to continue working hard, game after game, until the last moment of the season“, he concluded, while the club faces the challenge of the Champions League semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund next week (first leg on May 1, return at the Parc des Princes on the 7th), before the French Cup final. on May 25 against Lyon in Lille.
