Genius or Mad Man? Luis Enrique Turns Paris Saint-Germain Fortune Without Kylian Mbappe
Luis Enrique won nine different trophies at FC Barcelona before moving to Paris Saint-Germain. He continued his winning run at PSG, winning league titles and domestic titles with the French giants. He has a superstar striker, Kylian Mbappe, at his helm, and a lack of Champions League success pushed Mbappe away from PSG.
Everyone expected Enrique to persuade Mbappe to stay. But the Spanish manager did exactly the opposite. He prepared his side to play without Mbappe. Even keeping him on the bench for some matches, even though it was labelled as ‘rest’ and ‘tactical decision’. Eventually, Mbappe left PSG for free and joined Real Madrid in 2024. Fans in Paris were furious and labelled Enrique a ‘mad man’. This was the whole back story where Enrique’s side was portrayed negatively, just for letting Mbappe leave, that too for free.
A season later, Real Madrid, with Mbappe leading the Whites’ attack, lost the season’s first domestic cup – Supercopa de España final against Barcelona, were knocked out of the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal, and are four points behind league leaders Barcelona in the league table.
PSG, on the other hand, unbeaten in Ligue 1 and won the league title with six games to spare, won the Trophee des France, in another final of the French Cup and a semifinal of the UEFA Champions League, without Mbappe. The stats, record, and trophy cabinet support Luis Enrique, making him a genius of the game.
Also Read: UEFA Champions League: Arsenal Gun Down Defending Champions Real Madrid.
PSG Doing Great Without Kylian Mbappe?
Kylian Mbappe is generational talent. He led the France national team to the 2018 World Cup win, went blow to blow against Lionel Messi-led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup Final. At the domestic level, he thrashed every scoring record, winning seven league titles and multiple domestic tournaments at PSG and Monaco. But football is a team game, and at the highest level – the UEFA Champions League, PSG’s Mbappe could break the barrier.
No doubt PSG enjoyed great success with Mbappe and tried to surround him with talents like Sergio Ramos, Lionel Messi, and Neymar to win the UCL. Unfortunately, they fell short on every occasion. Now that Mbappe is gone, the Persian side shifted their attention to other attacking options and added players in all departments to strengthen their squad.
With an unbeaten record so far, PSG could be the first French side to end the season unbeaten. With two domestic titles already won, they are aiming for a domestic treble and pushing for the Champions League too. But just one season’s results prove failure or success for a club or a player? We might need to wait for at least one more season. This could also be a point of debate.
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