By injecting hundreds of millions of Euros into the transfer market every year, PSG has become a behemoth that cannot be tamed. With domestic success not hard to come by, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has had his sights set on a UEFA Champions League title for several years. Nevertheless, the hunt has been futile, and it seems that no matter who the coaching staff consists of, the words ‘PSG’ and ‘UCL’ cannot seem to go in the same sentence.
In this post, we’ll explore the sources of PSG’s continuous shortcomings when competing in the ultimate stage of football: the Champions League. You can find other such blog posts in the LV BET Sports Blog.
ORIGINS OF PSG’S LAVISH TRANSFERS
Al Khelaifi’s acquisition of PSG dates back to June 2011. The Qatari was sworn in as club president several months later, which is when he presented a five-year plan to propel PSG to the top of French and world football.
In the same year, the Parisian team was presented with its first expensive signing, Javier Pastore, who was purchased from Palermo for a €42m fee. PSG ended the year without a trophy—just a second-place finish in Ligue 1 after having been knocked out of the Europa League in the group stage.
The 2012/13 season marked the advent of PSG’s true nature: a club with deep pockets that wouldn’t shy away from spending big to win big. A combined transfer fee of €151m brought the Parisians to a Ligue 1 title—among the new faces were Thiago Silva (€42m), Lucas Moura (€40m), Ezequiel Lavezzi (€30m), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (€21m) and Marco Verratti (€12m). Despite the lavish transfers, PSG was knocked out of the UCL in the quarter-finals—an ill omen that haunts the Parisians to this day.
RECORD TRANSFERS, SAME RESULT
Some of PSG’s transfers carried mind-boggling fees that left most pundits and fans baffled. Even more baffling was the fact that none of these transfers led to any European silverware whatsoever.
- Neymar – €222m
- Kylian Mbappe – €180m
- Achraf Hakimi – €68m
- Edinson Cavani – €64.5m
- Angel Di Maria – €63m
With each star added to the team, PSG grew more confident that it stood more of a chance to haul in a Champions League title. However, despite cycling through six managers over the past 12 years (whereby each manager lasted an average of two years), no such feat has been achieved.
MANAGERS WHO TRIED AND FAILED
In its quest for the elusive UCL title, PSG’s club board has employed several different managers, some of whom were renowned for their past successes.
CARLO ANCELOTTI (2012-2013)
The Italian tactician has won a record four UCL titles as a manager, but none of them was won while employed by the Parisians. Having managed the star-studded AC Milan team during his eight-year tenure at the club, Ancelotti was PSG’s best candidate at the time.
Ancelotti’s French escapade was cut short, however, as the club showed him the exit following his team’s exit from the UCL in the quarter-finals at the hands of Barcelona. His stint at PSG only lasted a year and a half.
LAURENT BLANC (2013-2016)
Blanc lasted a good three years at the helm of PSG—which is somewhat of a record when it comes to the fire-happy Parisians—but couldn’t better Ancelotti’s placement in the UCL. The Frenchman’s team bowed out of the quarter-finals to Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester City in his three years in charge.
UNAI EMERY (2016-2018)
The current Aston Villa manager is known for his Europa League triumphs with Sevilla, but not his two failed attempts at bringing PSG a UCL title. With that said, his team’s Round-of-16 clash with Barcelona was a remarkable one, but not in a good way. After beating Barcelona 4-0 at the Parc des Princes, the Blaugrana ran rampant in a second-leg comeback with a scoreline of 6-1, effectively booting PSG out of the tournament.
The following season ended similarly, but it was Real Madrid who glided to an aggregate 5-2 win against PSG in the same stage of the tournament. Emery was dismissed from his managerial role the following summer.
THOMAS TUCHEL (2018-2020)
The German tactician was brought in just a day after Emery’s exit. In his first year in charge, Tuchel led PSG to a Round-of-16 exit against Manchester United, where his side stormed Old Trafford to earn a 2-0 advantage. In the second leg, the English giants clinched a vital 3-1 win, winning them the tie owing to the now-defunct aggregate rule.
Tuchel’s second season with the Parisians seemed to be heading to perfection. His team’s remarkable run in the UCL led them to the final against Bayern Munich, but it was the Germans who clinched a 1-0 win.
MAURICIO POCCHETTINO (2021-2022)
The Spanish-Argentinian was appointed to the managerial position after Tuchel’s mid-season axe. Pocchettino managed to guide his talent-laden side to the semi-finals before losing both legs to Manchester City. The following year ended worse with a Round-of-16 exit at the hands of the champions-to-be Real Madrid.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MANAGE PSG?
As one might have noticed, the average term of a PSG manager is just two years. Due to this, and several other factors, managing PSG has become a monumental task that even the likes of Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t succeed at.
Let’s dive into the specifics of what makes the Parisian club such a hard nut to crack.
- Big stars, big egos – Managing players who have played for the biggest clubs in the world and won it all is nothing short of a monumental task. This is especially true if the dressing room is…
- Divided – Unifying a divided dressing room is seldom successful. The widely reported rift between Kylian Mbappe and Neymar is a semi-recent hiccup in PSG’s fight for stability. One might also remember reports of another rift, which saw PSG’s South American players and French-speaking players draw apart.
- High expectations – Winning the UCL is the highest expectation possible one can impose on a newly appointed manager. With so little room for error, even the best managers in the world will have a tough time accomplishing that feat—let alone if the axe is set to drop after just two years in charge.
- No room to build – Putting together a title-winning squad takes several years. Throwing money at the problem isn’t the most intelligent modus operandi, and it still hasn’t paid off, despite Al-Khelaifi’s deep pockets.
- Faith is the first to go – Knowing that the heat is on as soon as the first loss of the season arrives is no way for a manager to operate. Creating synergy between players and executing intelligent transfers that fit the squad takes a long time, during which some losses can and should be expected.
WILL PSG EVER WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?
That is a question only time can answer. The only way we see PSG winning the UCL is by stumbling upon a good coach and a lucky tournament run. The Parisians don’t seem intent on taking long-term goals very seriously, neither do they seem to be willing to build a synergetic squad.
Without a trace of long-term commitment in mind, PSG is running around in circles, and it seems that the managerial head count will only keep getting worse as time goes on.