Messi was yesterday: 19-year-old Désiré Doué shines in the first leg against Aston Villa with an artful shot to make it 1-1 at the interval
Image: Keystone
Once upon a time the sloppy genius: Ousmane Dembélé now regularly shows his talent under Luis Enrique
Image: Keystone
Collective success: Portuguese midfield strategist Vitinha high-fives with striker Bradley Barcola
Image: Keystone
"Eleven defenders and eleven attackers on the pitch": Coach Luis Enrique likes what his young charges are showing him
Image: Keystone
A picture from days gone by: Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar (from left) did not achieve the desired success as a team
Image: Keystone
Messi was yesterday: 19-year-old Désiré Doué shines in the first leg against Aston Villa with an artful shot to make it 1-1 at the interval
Image: Keystone
Once upon a time the sloppy genius: Ousmane Dembélé now regularly shows his talent under Luis Enrique
Image: Keystone
Collective success: Portuguese midfield strategist Vitinha high-fives with striker Bradley Barcola
Image: Keystone
"Eleven defenders and eleven attackers on the pitch": Coach Luis Enrique likes what his young charges are showing him
Image: Keystone
A picture from days gone by: Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar (from left) did not achieve the desired success as a team
Image: Keystone
The world stars are gone, the chance of winning the Champions League has perhaps never been greater: Paris Saint-Germain is reaching for the stars with a rejuvenated ensemble.
15.04.2025, 05:00
15.04.2025, 06:53
SDA
"Young, wild and sexy" is the new Paris Saint-Germain, wrote the online portal "bluewin.ch" recently. And yes, the description applies in full to football. After selling its superstars, coach Luis Enrique's team is flourishing. They are not only playing beautifully, but also successfully. In the first season without Kylian Mbappé, the club even has the prospect of winning the treble in mid-April.
After 28 unbeaten games and 23 wins in Ligue 1, the league title is already in the bag. In the Cup, PSG are in the final against Stade Brest, while in the Champions League, the Parisians have become one of the main contenders for the title with their convincing performances in the round of 16 against Liverpool. On Tuesday evening, the club will go into the second leg at Aston Villa (21:00 live on blue Sport) with a two-goal cushion.
Doué and Barcola instead of Messi and Neymar
In their 14th year in Qatari hands, the Parisian protagonists are no longer the great superstars of the present, which is more surprising than their success. They are now the stars of tomorrow: Désiré Doué, for example, who was also courted by Bayern Munich last summer, has been enchanting as a 19-year-old in various positions. Bradley Barcola, scorer of 18 goals this season, is 22 years old and therefore older than midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery (19) and the Portuguese defensive player João Neves (20), who was signed in the summer.
Together with winter signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelya (24), these are just some of the many talents in PSG's squad who, unlike Messi and co, also add value - even though the club also dug deep into its pockets for these transfers.
The other end of the age scale is reached early on: Marquinhos, the Brazilian captain and defensive leader, is the only player over 30 in the squad. The Spanish European champion Fabian Ruiz (29) and the four years younger Portuguese Vitinha, who pull the strings in midfield, are also among the experienced players. And Ousmane Dembélé, who at the age of 27 is finally showing his talent on a regular basis under Luis Enrique.
Reconciliation with the fans
The new PSG is a team that the fans can identify with again. When the club clinched their 13th league title with a 1-0 home win against Angers at the start of the month, supporters unrolled a banner. "A team that is united and like us. Proud to be champions," was written on it.
So Paris Saint-Germain has made peace with its own fans. Beyond that, it remains complicated. If Paris Saint-Germain were not owned by Qatar and if the club had not wanted to buy its sporting success with huge sums of money for the biggest stars, even the neutral spectator could sympathize with the refreshing young ensemble. As a result, the courageous change in strategy, which is paying off after a short start-up period thanks to the strategist Luis Enrique, is still appreciated. And admiration for the high standard of football in many aspects that the team is celebrating as a new collective.
He wants to have "eleven defenders and eleven attackers on the pitch", says Enrique. "Instead of one player scoring forty goals a season, I'd rather have four players scoring ten goals each." However, it was the failure of Messi, Neymar, Mbappé and co. that set the club on this promising new course. Instead of world stars, talents such as Doué and Barcola are now providing the music, and despite all the background noise, it sounds pretty good.
