AFTER almost 15 years of huge investment, frequent disappointment and occasional humiliation, Paris Saint-Germain got their hands on the UEFA Champions League trophy on Saturday, allowing their Qatari owners to bask in the glory of an emphatic triumph.
PSG could not win European football’s biggest prize in previous seasons with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or later with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and even after that when they added Lionel Messi to the mix.
But they have done it now after shifting the focus away from signing glamorous superstars and letting a brilliant coach in Luis Enrique work with a hungry, dynamic young team.
PSG have been Europe’s best side in 2025, but the display against Inter Milan in Munich topped it all as they romped to a 5-0 victory, the biggest win in the final in the competition’s history.
It was ultimately worth the long wait for the Gulf owners who arrived in 2011 when Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) bought an ailing club.
Qatar got the perfect World Cup final in 2022, when Messi’s Argentina beat Mbappe’s France on an epic night in Doha, and now Qatari-owned PSG have the most stunning Champions League final win.
It is easy to forget now, but they lost three of their first five games in the tournament this season.
“We had a difficult start. Everyone criticised us and doubted us. Lots of people didn’t believe in our project,“ PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi told broadcaster Canal Plus.
“The objective now is to win again. It has taken 14 years of hard work but we are building something for the future.”
Khelaifi, who is close to Qatar’s ruler and holds several influential positions in football including as chairman of the European Club Association, was beaming as he celebrated with the trophy.
– The first of many? –
It is just the second time any French club has won it after Marseille in 1993. It surely won’t take over 30 years for PSG to win another Champions League, especially as this thrilling young side should now stay together for a long time.
The average age of their starting line-up on Saturday was under 25 and their oldest player is Marquinhos at 31 — he has been there since 2013.
“I have suffered and I have grown with this team,“ the Brazilian told broadcaster M6.
“My thoughts are with all the players who played here but were not able to win it.”
It has required 14 years, eight coaches, and over two billion euros ($2.27 billion) spent on transfer fees for QSI to get here.
In the last 12 campaigns before this season, PSG reached one final, losing to Bayern Munich in Lisbon in 2020.
There were two semi-final defeats, but there have also been humiliating collapses in the last 16 against Barcelona in 2017, Manchester United in 2019 and Real Madrid in 2022.
“I said when I came in that the objective was to win important trophies, and the only one missing was the Champions League,“ said Luis Enrique, appointed in 2023.
– Club World Cup the next target –
After Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City’s victory two years ago, also against Inter, it is another triumph for a club with mega-rich Gulf owners.
PSG’s victory was always only a matter of time. Their revenue last year of just over 800 million euros made them the third-richest club in analysts Deloitte’s Football Money League.
They sat behind only Real and City, and just ahead of traditional European aristocrats United, Bayern and Barcelona.
PSG’s last reported annual wage bill was close to double Inter’s entire revenues.
The difference with past years is that they are now spending the money more intelligently, on the likes of Saturday’s two-goal hero Desire Doue, Joao Neves and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos recently signed new contracts with the club who also won all three available titles in France this season.
PSG will now take away more than 100 million euros just in prize money from winning the Champions League, and there is the chance for more glory and riches as they head to the highly lucrative FIFA Club World Cup in the USA.
Qatar-owned PSG’s quest for domination will not stop with Europe.
“I think it is an incredible competition,“ said Luis Enrique, whose side face Atletico Madrid in Los Angeles in two weeks’ time.
“Our aim is to be competitive and to try to win a fifth trophy of the season.”
