PSG must focus on breaking their duck in the Champions League | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain will head into the 2024/25 season as the overwhelming favourites to win the Ligue 1 title for a record-extending 13th time.

However, while continued domestic success is important, it pales into insignificance against the club’s quest to break its duck in the Champions League.

PSG has reached the final of UEFA’s top club competition just once (2020), which is a poor record considering the resources at their disposal.

Odds of 16/1 to lift the trophy next season suggest the club’s long wait to lift the prestigious trophy is unlikely to end.

PSG missed a golden opportunity to reach the final last term, slipping to a 2-0 aggregate defeat against eventual runners-up Borussia Dortmund in the last four.

Intriguingly, the club has sent out mixed messages regarding the Champions League over the past year, which has probably not gone down well with manager Luis Enrique.

Chief Revenue Officer Marc Armstrong rejected the idea last November that PSG needed to win the Champions League to be categorised as a successful football club.

Armstrong’s comments have clearly struck a chord with Enrique, who joined PSG with the aim of guiding them to the Champions League title.

Losing star forward Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid this summer has made PSG’s task more difficult, but Enrique believes it is not impossible to achieve the feat.

His comments after PSG’s victory over Lyon in the 2023/24 Coupe de France final highlighted Enrique’s determination to guide the club to European glory.

“A big challenge for any player who wants to come is that we want to make history, and this club will win the Champions League sooner or later – it is difficult, but this team will do it,” Enrique said.

“This season is coming to an end, but negotiations are already starting and there are possibilities to improve the squad – it is still an impressive project.

“A big club is very demanding – the players need to adapt. There is no such thing as a holiday in top-level football.”

While Enrique is bullish about PSG’s chances of winning the Champions League, the club’s summer transfer business is a major cause for concern.

Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov is the club’s only major acquisition to date despite being linked with several big-money transfers.

Joao Neves, Desire Doue and Jordan Sancho are among the players tipped to join the Ligue 1 giants, but the moves have yet to come to fruition.

Although each of them would be a welcome addition, you would be hard-pushed to argue they will lead PSG to Champions League success.

Replacing Mbappe’s goals will not be easy, particularly given that the top-class strikers linked with PSG appear to be heading elsewhere.

All this means PSG’s next game this weekend will be keenly watched to see how the play with plenty of their transfer business still to come.