The inside story of the 'Luis Enrique revolution' in Paris: "He had a very clear plan; he wanted to make history."

"I never thought I'd end up in French football." Honest and direct. That's how Luis Enrique presented himself in Paris in July 2023. If anyone frowned upon hearing him, they'll be wondering why PSG didn't call him sooner. The Asturian has conquered Paris and has made the club, its fans, and his own players believe that, now, they can win their first Champions League title tonight in Munich against Inter .

"From day one, the intention was to make history, and we're in a position to achieve it," explained the coach a few days ago. He knows what it means to win it, having done so with Messi , Suárez , and Neymar 's Barça in 2015 against Juventus . However, this project is different from the one in Barcelona and the one PSG's owners, Qatar Sport Investment (QSI), have been promoting for a decade, with Nasser Al-Khelaifi at the helm. Today, they've learned that it's not about accumulating stars, but about building a team.

"We've had to manage player profiles, to build. We have very high-quality, high-level players, but with a team mentality ," confesses the coach, who doesn't hesitate to launch challenges typical of his overwhelming personality, which can generate as much affinity as rejection: "We're prepared for anything."

Almost two years after shutting himself away for the first few months in Poissy without speaking a word of French, PSG is reflecting what Luis Enrique was looking for. "He had a very clear plan," say those close to him. He has adapted an environment with many financial possibilities to his vision. He has achieved everything from the simplest things—a lifting crane from which to monitor training sessions from above without the need for scaffolding—to the signing of players who, without already being megastars, are aiming for it. But the former national team coach isn't content with just winning; he wants to create a lasting impression. "We want not just PSG fans, but everyone, to be attracted to how we play," he warns.

Without the weight of Mbappé

In this reconstruction, the manager who has become a key player is the sporting director he arrived with hand in hand: Luis Campos . They took the reins not only to lead the team to win two league titles and the Coupe de France, but also to restructure a dressing room that was unbalanced. Mbappé 's weight was a hindrance, as Luis Enrique himself openly acknowledged in a documentary: "Having a player who moved wherever he wanted means that there are situations in the game that I don't control. Next year I'm going to control them all. All of them, without exception," he asserted without mincing his words.

The forward's departure to Real Madrid has allowed the transition of a group in which he has integrated the signing of players who have become essential to his starting eleven and who have dragged the others to Lucho's faith. "He told us that without Kylian we would score more goals and I think he wasn't wrong," admitted Zïre-Emery. There have been 138 in all competitions compared to 120 last season, when Mbappé scored 44. The scoring star has been Dembélé , with 33 goals, awakened at the start of 2025, just when the whole group did, because the start of the campaign was not easy.

The team slumped in effectiveness and posted one of the worst performances in Europe, far from what was expected from a squad like PSG's. Defeats in the Champions League that hurt, like those against Atlético and Liverpool , and a task that consisted of "regaining confidence by developing playing habits."

Added to this was the generosity of a group that revealed itself to be supportive. Luis Enrique had sought talent in the market, players under 25 years old with as much quality as hunger. Portuguese player Joao Neves , French gem Douré, and Ecuadorian William Pacho , for whom eyebrows were raised in the stands when 40 million were paid for his arrival. Without excessively highlighting himself, they gelled, and in January the icing on the cake was added: Georgian Kvaratskhelia . A total investment of 220 million, but with significant growth. "I've seen this season everything I wanted to improve. I've been amazed," Luis Enrique confessed a few days ago, with his eyes already set on tonight's final.

Xana's flag

Perhaps that's why, in mid-January, the Asturian dared to verbalize a dream that goes even a little further than making history in French football. "I remember an incredible photo I have with my daughter at the Champions League final in Berlin , after winning, planting an FC Barcelona flag on the pitch. I have the desire to be able to do the same with PSG. My daughter won't be there, she won't be there physically, but she will be there spiritually , and that's very important to me," the coach said about Xana , where part of his strength comes from.

He will have the help of these young players, in whom Luis Enrique has injected or stimulated the winning gene. They will be on the pitch when the match kicks off at the Allianz Arena, and many will be doing so for the first time in their careers. Only Lucas Hernández and Marquinhos have experience in a Champions League final. Both in the same match: in Lisbon in 2020. The Frenchman won it with Bayern Munich , and the Brazilian, the only survivor still at PSG, lost it, opening a wound that hasn't healed. These have been semi-finals in which they have stumbled season after season despite investing more than 2 billion euros in transfers. The Champions League is what Luis Enrique wants, and if Luis Enrique wins it, he will conquer Paris.