PSG Eye Historic Treble after Ligue 1 Triumph

After title win, Mbappe and PSG have sights set on treble: Paris Saint-Germain are hoping their latest Ligue 1 title, secured on Sunday with three games to spare, will be just the first leg of a historic treble with a Champions League semi-final to come and the French Cup final to look forward to as well.

It is PSG’s 12th French title, at least two more than any other team, and it is also their 10th in 12 seasons, which goes to show how the footballing landscape in the country has been transformed since the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011.

The extent of PSG’s financial advantage over the rest of French football is crushing and means ending each season as champions is effectively a minimum requirement.

When analysts Deloitte published their list of the top-earning football clubs in the world for last year, PSG were third with revenue of just over 800 million euros ($855m). The only other French team in the top 20 was Marseille, with 258 million euros.

UEFA’s own European Club Finance report, published in February, revealed PSG as having the second highest wage bill on the continent behind only Barcelona, at over 600 million euros.

Those wage costs will have changed significantly this season, following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar, but a recent study by sports daily L’Equipe claimed that the 10 highest-paid players in Ligue 1 just now all play in Paris.

In that context, it is almost impossible for anyone to compete with Luis Enrique’s team domestically, but the Spanish coach still deserves credit.

Given our history and our squad, we are the favourites, although not everybody manages to do it, especially with so many games still to play,
he said last week.

But I have said since the very first day that we are the favourites, that we have the best squad and the biggest budget. It is almost an obligation.

Transition from Messi and Neymar

He took over a team set for a period of transition in the post-Messi and Neymar era.

PSG did not convince in winning the league last season, losing seven games and only pipping Lens by a point.

This campaign has, to borrow a French expression, not always been like a long, peaceful river.

Luis Enrique had to incorporate a raft of new signings and has had to deal with the awkward situation surrounding Kylian Mbappe’s future.

Mbappe was frozen out at the start of the campaign with the club putting pressure on him to sign a new deal or agree to be sold rather than simply run down the last year of his contract.

That partly explains why PSG won just three of their first seven Ligue 1 games.

However, they have since picked up the pace and their only league loss so far remains a 3-2 home defeat against Nice in September.

Ousmane Dembele has been excellent since arriving from Barcelona, playing mainly on the right wing, and Bradley Barcola has starred on the other side.

Teenager Warren Zaire-Emery has been a fixture in midfield and earned a call-up to the full France squad, while Portuguese creator Vitinha has arguably been PSG’s best player.

But then there is Mbappe, who has 43 goals in all competitions, and that despite being used sparingly in the league over the last two months since informing the club of his decision to leave on a free at the end of the season.

Mbappe has completed 90 minutes just twice in PSG’s last 11 league games.

Luis Enrique has justified that by saying he needs to prepare for a future without his star player and try alternatives. But in the meantime, PSG must make the most of having the France captain in their ranks.

That they are now a better, more balanced team without having to accommodate Messi and Neymar is no surprise.

Although they wobbled in the Champions League group stage, they qualified for the knockout phase and took four points against Borussia Dortmund along the way. They must now be favourites to beat the Germans in the upcoming semi-final.

That would allow them to finish the Mbappe era with a French Cup final against Lyon on May 25 and the Champions League final a week later, with the prospect of a clean sweep of trophies in sight.

Of course that’s something we are talking about. It’s a source of motivation for us,
Luis Enrique said.

It will be a long, winding road to get there. We will need to stay fully focused until the end of the season.

Paris Saint-Germain produced one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the French league despite clinching a record-extending 12th league title in an anticlimactic fashion.

Second-place Monaco’s 3-2 loss at Lyon on Sunday gave PSG an unassailable 12-point lead with just three rounds left. PSG had wasted the chance to celebrate with its supporters at home by drawing 3-3 with struggling Le Havre on Saturday.

For the first time in years, PSG this season looked like a genuine team on the field instead of relying on flashes of brilliance from its superstars.

But splashing the cash again played a big role in PSG’s success. The Parisian club’s budget this season is as large as the budgets of Marseille, Lyon and Monaco combined.

Here’s how PSG did it:

LUIS CAMPOS

The dominant season bears the fingerprints of PSG strategic adviser Luis Campos, the mastermind who previously helped Monaco and Lille build winning squads as their sporting director. PSG lost the league title to Monaco in 2017 and Lille in 2021. Campos was sitting next to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to watch Saturday’s game at Parc des Princes. PSG wins record-extending 12th French league title in Kylian Mbappé’s last season at the club: Paris Saint-Germain won the French league in Kylian Mbappé’s last season at the club after Monaco lost 3-2 at Lyon on Sunday.

PSG has an unassailable 12-point lead over second-place Monaco, which has three games left.The Ligue 1 triumph is PSG’s third in a row and a record-extending 12th overall.

Mbappé has been involved in six of them, but comes off contract at the end of the season. He’s expected to be signed by Real Madrid.

PSG is on course for a potential historic treble as it will play at Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday and face Lyon in the French Cup final on May 25.

In coach Luis Enrique’s first season at the club, PSG produced one of the most dominant seasons in league history with just one loss in 31 games so far.

PSG could have secured the title a day earlier but was held 3-3 by Le Havre on Saturday.

Our fans are incredible. We were losing 1-0, 3-1, and they kept supporting us,
Luis Enrique said after the draw.

We managed to draw later on and effectively win the league thanks to the supporters, thanks to their positive attitude.

That was quite a contrast with the past couple of seasons.

Last season, PSG supporters were booing Lionel Messi even though the soccer great was the player who helped the club clinch an 11th league title by scoring in a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg.

Two years ago, there was a similar disconnect between the supporters and the club. PSG supporters kept protesting at Parc des Princes by giving their team the silent treatment.

Now this season could be the most exciting of all.