After years of falling short, PSG finally got their hands on the Champions League trophy last season. In fact, they did it in emphatic style by beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final which will live long in the memory for PSG fans.
However, since its rebrand to the Champions League in the early 90s, only one team has managed to successfully retain the title the year after winning it. That was Real Madrid who famously managed to win it three years in a row!
So, can PSG retain their title? Currently, they’re joint-second favourites with sports bookmaker William Hill to win it at 6/1. They’re the same price as Barcelona whilst slightly ahead of those teams in the odds as favourite is Liverpool.
That’s unsurprising given how they’ve invested in their squad over the summer with notable acquisitions including Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike.
Meanwhile for Luis Enrique’s side, the only signings they’ve made this summer is Ilya Zabarnyi from Bournemouth and Lucas Chevalier from Lille.
The only notable departure from last season’s winning team was goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to Man City – so most of the squad is ready to go again.
Their start to the season has been impressive as well, they managed to win all three of their opening Ligue 1 fixtures before the first international break of the season whilst also getting their hands on the UEFA Super Cup after a sensational comeback against Tottenham Hotspur.
However, the summer defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup did hurt the club – there’s no doubt about that. And, while the manner of the defeat might be a cause for concern, going forward they know they can perform well in the big games, as proved in last year’s final.
In terms of fixtures in the league phase, PSG have been handed a few tough games with a trip to Barcelona and a home match against Bayern Munich being the notable ones.
That will be one area that Luis Enrique will want to improve this season. Their only victories came on matchdays one, six, seven and eight. Those three victories in the last three rounds of fixtures meant they qualified, without them they’d have been knocked out in the first round.
Even then, they had to go into the round of 32 which is essential for those teams that finish between ninth position and 24th in the league table. This year, PSG will much prefer qualifying straight into the last 16 via ending the league phase in the top eight.
One thing is for certain though this year, PSG have finally won the Champions League. For the first time in many years, the club can go into this season’s competition without the immense pressure from fans, owners and the media to win European football’s elite competition.
This time around, the pressure will be from within on them trying to retain their crown. The fact so few teams have achieved that shows how difficult it is to achieve. Were PSG to win back-to-back Champions League titles, they’d certainly have announced themselves as an elite European team.
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Odds are correct at the time of writing.
