While Luis Enrique’s group is silently preparing for the Champions League final against Arsenal, another mission is also occupying the grounds of the PSG Campus this week. A few meters further, the 2008 Parisian generation is preparing to play one of the most important matches in its young history with a Coupe Gambardella final against Montpellier this Friday at the Stade de France. In Poissy, it’s impossible not to feel the special atmosphere that accompanies the big weeks at the Parisian training center, while the club’s U17s are also still engaged in the title race. Even less than two weeks ago, the PSG players had already paved the way by winning the first edition of the Nike U18 Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Gambardella, at the end of a crazy final against Le Havre won on penalties. Now it’s time for the boys to try to offer the club a second Gambardella, almost 35 years after the historic coronation of 1991 won in particular by Pascal Nouma and Richard Dutruel. As a symbol of the moment experienced by PSG, the club is preparing two major finals in parallel with the same obsession with detail and the same desire to promote its training.
The Parisian journey in this 2025-2026 edition tells a lot about this generation. Youth League semi-finalists this season and still involved in the final phase of the U19 national championship, the young PSG players arrive at the Stade de France with real collective credibility. Twenty-four different players participated in this Gambardella campaign, proof of an assumed rotation and confidence spread throughout the squad. Up front, Pierre Mounguengue and Adam Ayari carried the Parisian attack with seven goals each while Mathis Jangeal also weighed in with five goals. Behind these figures, the Parisian staff especially emphasizes the collective identity of a group that has lived together for a long time. Some players have known each other for almost six years at the training center. Twelve elements of the group called for this final have already known or currently know the national youth selections with France, Morocco or Tunisia. On the pitches of the PSG Campus, the sessions give off something very fluid, almost natural, as if this team was moving forward with automatisms built up since childhood. Facing them, Montpellier arrives with the experience of a club which has already won three Gambardellas and which remains one of the historic references of French training.
Football but also the Bac
But this particular preparation is unlike any other typical week for these young players. Since Monday, the days have been organized around a double challenge that is quite rare at this level. Prepare for a national final while passing the baccalaureate. Several players started the week with the 800 meters event for the sports baccalaureate while others continued with the language orals or the mathematics tests for the professional sections. At the PSG Campus, the educational and sports staff have completely adapted the schedule to allow the players to manage both objectives without sacrificing either. All training sessions were therefore postponed to the afternoon in order to respect the examination times scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. This organization also illustrates the importance given to education within the Parisian club, proud to post two consecutive years with 95% success in the baccalaureate for residents of the Cité Éducative du PSG. Lucas Batbedat has even already obtained his baccalaureate a year early. In the halls of the Campus, discussions sometimes move from set pieces to review topics in a matter of seconds. An almost unreal scene a few hours before a final at the Stade de France.
The figures also tell a lot about this Parisian generation. Since the start of the 2025-2026 Gambardella Cup campaign, nearly 24 different players have participated in PSG’s journey, a perfect illustration of a collective where rotation and the confidence placed in the entire group have constantly been valued. Offensively, Paris was able to count on nine different scorers throughout the competition. Pierre Mounguengue and Adam Ayari share the lead in the Parisian scorers rankings with seven goals each while Mathis Jangeal follows with five goals. Behind them, Toumani Diagouraga, Mamadou Meité and Emmanuel Mbemba also scored twice while Younes Idder, Aymen Assab and Jarell Paisley also found the net. Beyond the statistics, this final above all represents the culmination of a 2008 group which has been growing together for years at the Parisian training center. Some players have known each other for almost six seasons. And further proof of the potential of this generation, 12 players out of the 18 selected for this final have already known or currently know the youth national selections with France, Morocco or Tunisia. In the middle of this very special week, the arrival of Mamadou Sakho brought another emotional dimension to the Parisian preparation.
The former PSG captain came to meet the U19 group to share his experience, tell his story and pass on some advice before the final. Nearly 20 years after having himself played in the Gambardella under the Parisian colors, Sakho almost embodied a living link between several generations of the club. “I have just come out of the locker room of the team that is going to play Gambardella in the next two days. So yes, it’s important. In addition, the director of the center is Yohan Cabaye, my former teammate in the French team and at Crystal Palace. But of course, it’s always nice to see the door of the A team open to young Parisian talents who are simply emerging. Because Paris is full of talent in the neighborhoods, in the suburbs, in the playgrounds, in the city stadiums. When we always see a Parisian Titi joining the pro group, it’s nice, but nothing is given. You have to deserve it. Everyone who makes it to the professional team deserves it. And then I hope it will continue like this”. Seeing him return to Campus, meeting certain educators he met during his training and attending part of the youth training inevitably gave weight to the moment. Trained in Paris, becoming the youngest captain in the history of PSG, Sakho represented exactly what many of these young people still dream of becoming in a few years. As the session progressed, several players approached discreetly to talk with him while the staff voluntarily allowed these moments to live. As if, before talking about tactics or the pressure of a final, the most important thing was to first remind this 2008 generation of what it already represents in the history of the club.
