- Published
Johan Cruyff, a man Paris St-Germain boss Luis Enrique deeply admires, used to say the hardest thing in football is winning after winning.
asserted
thing → publish → football
This season has been designed by Luis Enrique at PSG with that conundrum in mind.
The back-to-back European champions could become only the second team to win three consecutive Champions Leagues this season.
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champions → design → Leagues
They are also aiming for a third successive league triumph.
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They → aim → triumph
They arrive at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday sixth in Ligue 1, with just three wins, two draws and one defeat.
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They → arrive → wins
Nobody in Paris is panicking, though.
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Nobody → panic → Paris
Luis Enrique's side made a similarly slow start last season, but the coach was confident the results would come.
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results → make → start
"Do you want to bet against us?" he said recently.
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he → want → us
Luis Enrique recently signed a contract until 2030, and so have a number of players central to his plan.
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Enrique → sign → plan
The big danger is that a group who have won everything will believe they can relax without anyone noticing.
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anyone → win → everything
Much of what he has done so far is about preventing exactly that.
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he → do → that
When the club announced his new contract, they also confirmed new deals for Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz, Willian Pacho, Lucas Beraldo and Senny Mayulu, sending a clear message to the dressing room that this is still a long-term project.
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this → announce → room
There has been remarkably little change in the technical staff since Luis Enrique arrived at PSG in 2023.
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Enrique → arrive → 2023
Assistant Joaquin Valdes has been alongside Luis Enrique since their Barcelona B days, and he is the one who talks to the players on a personal level.
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who → talk → level
He also helps keep his boss grounded when Luis Enrique's mind drifts too far away, and you can see him in the background in every news conference.
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you → help → conference
Rafel Pol, who handles strategy and acts as second in command, is another constant presence.
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who → handle → command
Very little of the way they train on and off the pitch has altered during Luis Enrique's three years at the club.
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they → train → club
The players aren't shown a huge amount of videos, but there is a big screen on the training pitch to correct players and two cranes for the coaches to see everything from a height.
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coaches → show → height
The one real change though is in the luxury of depth - a factor that proved key last campaign.
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that → prove → depth
Luis Enrique can now regularly leave out a couple of key players from his squad and the team does not suffer.
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team → leave → squad
Ousmane Dembele was not in the squad for the win against Le Mans on Saturday, and earlier in the season it was Lucas Digne who was left out.
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who → leave → season
Against the bigger opponents, such as Manchester City and Barcelona, the starters arrive rested.
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starters → arrive → City
Against Le Mans, he used eight players that would not start the bigger matches, and, with the match level, he brought on four of his 'stars' to ensure the win.
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he → use → win
His attack has been renewed after Gonzalo Ramos, Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-in all departed.
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Ramos → renew → ?
Dani Gil, Paris correspondent for the Spanish radio station COPE, explains: "Barcola could not be given the minutes he wanted, they had won everything and been paid well for it, and the club could do with players who were hungrier.
"
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who → explain → players
Mika Godts and Ferran Torres fit that description.
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Godts → fit → description
Neither has yet won at club level what the departed players won."
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players → win → what
Barcola was not rated by the coaches as someone who could reach the level Dembele sets, yet his flashes of brilliance were enough to convince Liverpool to pay £123m for him.
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flashes → rat → him
He went through a difficult stretch psychologically, worked on his mental strength and now calls himself 'the Shark'.
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He → go → himself
He was unhappy at Barcelona when he was not playing regularly, even though last season produced his best numbers.
Now, having netted the winner for Spain in the World Cup final, he has scored seven goals in France.
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he → play → France
For the first time in his career he feels really wanted.
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he → feel → career
He also knows what kind of team he has joined.
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he → know → team
The way of playing, the standards, the habits, they all belong to the coach, and the players slot in.
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players → play → coach
It explains why the club could sell famous names without the team losing its identity.
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team → explain → identity
Luis Enrique, who has taken a space that PSG's Qatari owners had never handed to any other coach, has turned a club once seen as a collection of expensive signings into one envied by the rest of the world, by signing wisely but also by drawing value from the academy.
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owners → take → academy
Four homegrown players - Warren Zaire-Emery, Mayulu, Quentin Ndjantou and Ibrahim Mbaye - played in the Champions League last season.
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players → play → League
The first-team headquarters sit at the top of a hill, and the academy is at the bottom, so the young players have to climb, literally and metaphorically, if they want to make it.
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they → sit → it
The campus was officially opened in November 2024 after an investment of 350m euros, and for the first time the professional teams, the men's and women's academies and the school all share one site.
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teams → open → site
The method is imposed from the top down.
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method → impose → top
The under-23s coach is a former player, but the style comes from Luis Enrique's first team, with constant meetings between them and academy directors.
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style → come → them
Yohan Cabaye, director of the training centre, speaks often to director of football Luis Campos and Olivier Gagne, the deputy director of professional football.
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Cabaye → speak → football
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
