Luis Enrique's revolution without Mbappé appeals to Paris: "He's provocative and arrogant, and that, combined with his success, fits well with this city."

Louis is the name of kings in the country that sublimates the republic. The Louis of France were practically twenty, including Louis Philippe I , of the House of Orleans, who reigned for a brief period, known as the July Monarchy , before abdicating and giving way, in 1848, to the creation of the Second French Republic. From Louis I the Pious , the French had it all: Louis II the Stutterer , Louis V the Lazy , Louis VI the Fat , Louis XI the Prudent or Louis XII of the People to the great Louis XIV or Sun King , whose reign, of 72 years, was the longest in history and marked a time of military splendor, in addition to administratively reorganizing the country and appeasing the nobility in favor of politics. He also took centralism and absolutism to the extreme, with the luxury of Versailles as a metaphor. Louis XV , his grandson, was his nemesis, a disaster, and Louis XVI ended up paying for his inherited and his own excesses on the guillotine. The Restoration brought another Louis, a Bourbon, but the fascination with the Revolution had changed France forever. The country of all revolutions—the bourgeois, the student, and even the sexual—is experiencing another in football, led by a Louis who hasn't come from Versailles. He is a sans-culotte of football, and the Champions League is his Bastille.

Luis Enrique's appeal in France isn't just about his work at PSG, which is on the verge of qualifying for the final in Munich, if he can capitalize on his 1-0 lead over Arsenal in the second leg of the semi-finals. Results provoke criticism or recognition, but there is identification with the Asturian thanks to his personality in a country that loves rebellion and irreverence. More than a country, it's a city: Paris. "Luis Enrique is perfect, because he's provocative and arrogant, and that, combined with his success, fits well with the city," says philosopher and editor Thibaud Leplat , a professor at the International Lycée of Madrid.

"There's a fascination among the French intelligentsia with irreverent, provocative characters, and Luis Enrique is one of them," adds Leplat. It's evident in literature, from Simone de Beauvoir to Michel Houellebecq , but also in cinema and even football. One of the most countercultural and anti-establishment players in history was the Frenchman Éric Cantona , the grandson of an exile from the Spanish Civil War. Cantonà was a flesh-and-blood revolution against any form of power, including those of football itself, which he adored and which infuriated him.

Cantonà eventually switched to film, although he never played for PSG, whose origins involved many celebrity figures, comedians, and actors such as Jean-Paul Belmondo , one of the villains of fiction. Coach Luis Fernández and David Ginola were faithful on the field to that quality that fits the Spaniard's character. "It's a Latin, Mediterranean club, in a Paris that much of France looks down on due to its centralism, because everything has to go through the capital. That also contributes to it being a more hated club and turning every game in Strasbourg, Lille, Nice, or Marseille into highly tense clashes, something that a direct character like Luis Enrique's adapts well to," continues the philosophy professor based in Spain.

"Anyone who represents the revolution is also adored, because the Revolution is not just a period in our history, but part of the ethos of France. Even Emmanuel Macron titled his autobiography Révolution , although his revolution isn't really a revolution. On the other hand, Luis Enrique, in a way, has imposed his on a club subject to the dictates and whims of the big stars," Leplat continues.

The PSG he joined was, in reality, a Versailles of footballers always overshadowed by luxury, from Ibrahimovic to Messi , and where there was only one Sun King : Kylian Mbappé . When he left, Luis Enrique said that PSG would play better without the current Real Madrid striker. A statement that was more than provocative, it was reckless. Time has proven him right. "His departure from Paris has had a liberating effect. Liberating for everyone: the coach, the rest of the players, the fans, and even the Qatari owners, who are now delighted with Luis Enrique, even though the beginnings were difficult," Leplat recalls.

Scoldings with Mbappé, Dembélé and Asensio

The Asturian maintained his usual direct approach to journalists, a directness that, coupled with the team's initial inconsistency, generated much criticism. Despite reaching the Champions League semi-finals last season, the defeat to Borussia Dortmund heightened the feeling of helplessness at a time of depression over the loss of Mbappé, who had informed the club of his decision months earlier. The documentary "You Have No Fucking Idea," about the Asturian and his work method, produced last year by Movistar, initially had no takers in France, unlike in other countries. Those critical voices increased again in the face of the difficulties in the qualifying phase of this year's Champions League, but from November onwards, with the team's rise to prominence, everything changed, and the documentary, finally released, was a huge success.

" Michael Jordan would grab his teammates by the balls and defend like a son of a bitch. You're going to spend the whole game pressuring Cubarsí , Ter Stegen , and coming back quickly... To be a leader," Luis Enrique tells Mbappé in a scene captured in the documentary. Overacted or not, there have been plenty of other arguments. Mbappé went to a place where pressing isn't an obligation, not for now, and so did Asensio , despite asking the Asturian to discuss the problem as a group. Nothing of the sort.

Not even Dembélé , whom he personally called to leave Barcelona and sign for PSG, was spared his disciplinary measures for not respecting rules that the coach considers key to the team's growth. Dembélé was an express request that Luis Enrique made to Nasser Al-Khelaifi upon arriving at the club last season. A footballer with a directness as deadly as it is incomprehensible, something that connects with the Asturian's past as a player, a forward at Sporting, a full-back at Madrid, and practically a winger at Barcelona, ​​but always vertical.

Mbappé's departure, following those of Neymar and Messi, made the former Barça player the star player. Therefore, his withdrawal from the squad before playing at the Emirates during the first round of this Champions League season sparked a crisis. "I'd do it again," said Luis Enrique, despite the 2-0 defeat. "Ousmane doesn't have a problem with me, it's a problem with his obligations to the team," he added. The striker went to apologize to the coach. Months later, at the same venue, the regular starter Dembélé claimed the valuable advantage of the semifinal.

The coach has managed to optimize Dembélé's qualities, usually placing him centrally to leave the wings to Barcola or Doué , the great talent who is coming up. The individual growth of all the players has been enormous, as evidenced by central midfielder Vitinha and even the renewed confidence of the giant Donnarumma . There is a team and there is play, "the best in PSG's history," as he concludes in France, of course, but what truly exists is an unknown leadership, which astonishes and worries the Qatari owners and enamors the Parisians. This is the revolution.