Mbappe, Neymar and Messi not needed: How PSG sold their stars to become the best team in the world

Luis Enrique’s PSG are the best football team in the world. No exaggeration. They play a brand of football that is so enticing to the eyes and they dismantle teams with ease. Their latest prey was Real Madrid. Xabi’s individuals got absolutely outclassed in every department of the game by Luis Enrique’s team. 4-0 was the final scoreline but it could have been more.

“Team” is the word that needs to be highlighted here. Long gone are the days when PSG were a team of individuals. Now they are a team with players working for each other. There are no superstars. No egos to handle. They are all enjoying playing the beautiful game to conquer the world under the coaching of the Spaniard.

The work rate the whole squad puts in off the ball is the trademark of this side. The pressing starts from Dembele, who was in a hospital bed most of the time during his Barca days. Now he is fit and scoring for fun. The ability was always there but he never fulfilled it until he met Enrique.

Discipline is key for Lucho. He even left out Dembele for a Champions League match against Arsenal earlier this season. If you don’t follow his principles, you won’t be part of his plans. He made that clear to Mbappe before his departure. So Dembele knew whom he was up against. He started listening to the man. Made him a false 9 and now he has become a Ballon d’Or favourite.

The system is so fluid. Their full-back, winger partnership is exquisite. The likes of Hakimi and Mendes are equally good defensively and offensively. The flamboyant wingers work their socks off to protect the space left by full-backs when they attack. You just cannot do that if you are egoistic.

The midfield rotation is exemplary. Vitinha pulls the strings but Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz are doing an underrated job both on and off the ball. The motto is to pass but pass with incision. If you lose the ball, win it back at the earliest.

Most of the time, they don’t even play with a natural centre forward. Instead, one of their wingers takes the false 9 role and their rotation gives headaches to top centre backs. Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, Barcola and Dembele share that job. When these wingers are flying, it becomes so difficult to defend. This is the kind of football that entertains people. No passing for the sake of passing. Go direct when you can.

The defense is marshalled by veteran Marquinhos. Enrique has taught them about positional football but it’s not just about passing around and keeping possession all the time like his previous Spanish National side. Instead, anyone can fill any position on the pitch irrespective of their natural starting position. They are entitled to be direct, dribble past players and use the freedom to express. They are a joy to watch.

No more galacticos here. No more tantrums. No more egos. They bought all the superstars in the past. They even tried with the Messi, Mbappe and Neymar front three as well. They couldn’t even go past the round of 16 stage of the Champions League with them. The collectiveness was never there. They were a laughing stock but now they are the best team in the world.

Like Hakimi said after the match: “You can win matches with good players, but you need a good team to win titles. This is what Luis Enrique has managed to create with us.”

Whereas Mbappe, who left PSG to join Real Madrid last summer, is having a brilliant individual season, but that Real Madrid side are not playing like a team and are not winning any titles. Xabi Alonso has just started and he will have to make some harsh decisions to make them play as a team.

Yes, Luis Enrique is the hero here. However, we should not forget their sporting director Luis Campos as well.

Luis Campos has assembled a young, hungry squad who are ready to listen to Enrique, and he has managed to instill his philosophy in two years and they have conquered Europe and won the treble. Now they are on the verge of conquering the world as well.

The Paris giants will meet the vibrant Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday. Chelsea are playing well but this PSG side is unstoppable. They have scored 192 goals in 62 games. One more game to go. It will be a major surprise if PSG don’t lift the title.