PSG players celebrate Lionel Messi’s goal against Manchester City during a Sept. 28 UEFA Champions League match in Paris. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
PSG have a serious roster this season, but no one will know how good they are until the UEFA Champions League is decided.
This is because PSG, while usually fantastic in Ligue 1, have received unwanted surprises over the years from teams like Lille and Monaco. For Paris, domestic trophies are discussed infrequently unless they fail to win them. They are taken for granted, including the league title.
All PSG fans want at this point is a Champions League trophy. The club have won everything else, and in France, they have a dominant national team also seemingly winning everything.
No, these Parisian fans wish to see their team crowned champions of Europe.
PSG and its fans are tired of falling short
Paris San Germain is no longer content with being seen as kings of a farmers league. They want to be kings of all of Europe, and laud it over teams from England, Germany and Spain.
This would undoubtedly be a major deal, and should the club find it in its power to re-sign Kylian Mbappé, as he flirts with the idea of signing a pre-contract with Madrid in January, alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, it could make for an interesting future for PSG and their fanbase.
Even though we all get to watch them play in Ligue 1, as well as the domestic cups and the Champions League, it is only towards the end of the season, when the Champions League is also winding down, that the Parisians can be assessed alongside Europe’s best teams.
It is at this point, however, that they have too often come up short, although it has certainly been closer in recent years. They lost in the final against Bayern Munich two seasons ago, but will be knocking on that door once again with Lionel Messi now on the team.
This will be a big year, especially early on. If PSG can look and play well, it could convince Mbappé to sign a new deal, in which case Neymar, Mbappé, and Messi could be one of the most frighteningly talented trios of all time.
If it doesn’t work out , Mbappé could find himself with an exit to Madrid, where Carlo Ancelotti could use his brilliant skill and mind to resharpen the edge at Real Madrid. Mbappé could sign somewhere else, too, as Madrid and Barcelona are not the teams they once were. They are currently not dominating La Liga, as they’ve grown accustomed to, and Real Madrid has a serious challenger just across town as Atletico de Madrid continue to close the gap.
Mbappé could still go make Madrid a better team.
But why leave?
Staying in France a bit longer will not hurt his young career and he can eventually transfer to either England, Spain or Italy. The world will be at his fingertips and there is no better ending than by delivering PSG the title they have become completely obsessed over.
It will take PSG some time to get warmed up and fluid with one another under Mauricio Pochettino. It will happen, and when it does, all of Europe will have to cope with a functioning team as well as extremely talented individuals. There will only be one thing to say to their opponents after that: good luck.
