Luis Enrique’s revolution leaves PSG stronger without the superstars

For a long time Paris Saint-Germain were a collection of superstars, but now under Luis Enrique they are a team with a clear identity and appear stronger as a result of the job done by their Spanish coach.

Having just clinched the Ligue 1 title, they move on to a Champions League quarter-final against Aston Villa in buoyant mood as they target winning that competition for the first time.

The Qatar-backed outfit won a French league and cup double and reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, in Luis Enrique’s first campaign, with Kylian Mbappe scoring 44 goals.

Mbappe’s prolific tally was all the more remarkable because he was left out of the team at times in the second half of the season after it became clear he would depart for Real Madrid.

Yet while many wondered how PSG could overcome losing their talisman, Luis Enrique continued to insist the future would be brighter.

“All I know is that if everything goes well, next season we will have a much better team in every aspect, attacking, defending, tactically. I have no doubts about that,” he said early last year.

The first months of this campaign were far from perfect amid Champions League defeats against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, as well as the coach’s refusal to play with a traditional centre-forward, which led to Randal Kolo Muani being frozen out.

– Young team, mood transformed –

But a 3-0 win in Salzburg in December appears now as the moment when everything started to click.

That night began a run of 24 wins and two draws in 27 games, the only defeat in that time a 1-0 loss at home to Liverpool which was overturned in the second leg.

Never mind that Mbappe has gone, because with six games left PSG are one goal away from matching their total