PSG’s Final Chapter: Saying Goodbye to Kylian Mbappe as they transition from a £1BILLION Galactico era to a ‘new identity’ – A crucial moment for their Champions League dreams.

Once they step out of the eye of the storm it is easier for players and managers to see just how destabilising Paris Saint-Germain’s obsession to win the Champions League has been.

‘The pressure for the Champions League was too strong,’ now-Chelsea centre back Thiago Silva, who spent eight years at PSG, told Le Parisien last year.

‘It was something that hurt me because I saw the situation change, and the pressure increased to win. But that’s not how you win. It’s a question of consistency year after year.’

‘PSG is a club that doesn’t have a lot of patience,’ he told beIN Sports. ‘There’s an obsession with winning the Champions League that doesn’t help. I think it’s the only club in the world where, if they don’t win the Champions League, it’s a failure.’

Ambition is one thing but PSG’s entire seasons have centred on one singular cup competition. It was made apparent to those who walked through the door: it’s win or bust. The rest is of little interest.

‘Everything at PSG is focused on the Champions League and sometimes that can be a little distracting,’ former boss Mauricio Pochettino previously told Marca.

‘Those demands seem to only exist in the build-up to European games and other competitions are taken for granted due to PSG’s superiority. 

‘The Champions League is the obsession and anything short of winning the Champions League is equivalent to failure.’

And there are plenty of testimonies that sound almost identical.

Since Qatari ownership flooded PSG with cash in 2011 they have burned through seven managers and have spent more than £1.1billion in pursuit of European football’s most desired trophy.

A Galactico approach, which, to name a few, has seen Sergio Ramos, Neymar, Messi, Angel Di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edison Cavani, Mauro Icardi, Lucas Moura and Ezequiel Lavezzi, walk in and out of the revolving door, has brought zero Champions League trophies and just one final appearance.

In fact, since Qatari Sports Investments (QSI) took control, they have made it past the quarter-final stage only twice – 2019-20 when they got to the final, and in 2020-21 when they reached the semi-finals.

Last season, a routine last-16 exit at the hands of Bayern Munich brought about a cutting assessment from French daily newspaper L’Equipe.

‘At PSG, when it comes to the knockout stages of the Champions League, defeat is a culture,’ L’Équipe’s Vincent Duluc wrote. Few argued with such a withering assessment.

‘When a club is obsessed with something, it is never a good sign,’ current managerial incumbent Luis Enrique said recently. ‘You have to have ambition but obsession doesn’t work.’

He’s right – and PSG have realised it. A new approach, centred on younger players that better fit as a team, rather than a focus on individual star power, is said to be inbound.

Which makes this run, seemingly the last of the Galactico era with Mbappe expected to walk out the door on a free to Real Madrid in the summer, all the more important.

Real Madrid fans are so convinced Mbappe is bound for Spain that on the approach to the Santiago Bernabeu last night, scarves with his name and face on were doing a roaring trade.

When the balls were drawn in Nyon a few weeks ago, PSG’s route to the final was mapped out. They simply haven’t had a better chance since they reached the end-game in 2020, losing out to Bayern Munich.

Beat Barcelona and it’s one of Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund standing between them and a Champions League final. With respect to those teams, PSG couldn’t have picked a kinder draw if they’d have done it themselves.

Bayern, Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid, all of which would have been favourites in ties against PSG, ended up bunched together on the other side of the draw.

‘I hope that our ambition overcomes the pressure,’ Enrique said on Tuesday.

‘We aren’t feeling pressure at the moment, we are very excited to play at this level and we are trying to qualify for the next round.’

It is inescapable that minus Mbappe, regardless of how much Enrique wants to preach team unity over individual brilliance, this team is far from contention. The new identity they crave, centred on youth, could take years to pay off with the biggest prize.

It was Mbappe who scored three of PSG’s four goals over the two last-16 legs against Real Sociedad and he will again carry the responsibility on his back against Barcelona.

His flirting with Real Madrid won’t detract from his motivation to deliver the prize he pitched up at PSG determined to bring to Paris. If anything, knocking out Barcelona will only further endear him to the fanbase eagerly awaiting his arrival.

‘I’m not going to hide,’ he told Telefoot at the weekend. ‘I’m sure we are going to give it our all.’

PSG remain on course for a famous treble and while it was, on paper, all loaded to be served to the Qatari owners by Messi, perhaps now, when the the curtain is coming down on their Galactico era, that the most craved prize will finally arrive.

‘We are building a new identity; our own style, our own principles of how to play, an offensive play – and a new culture,’ PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said when Enrique was appointed. ‘That’s what we want — and then the results will follow.

‘We are building a team that is really playing as a team – we want our players to enjoy playing, our staff to enjoy coaching, and for our fans to enjoy it when you watch.’

Mbappe won’t be part of this new culture for long – a matter of weeks most likely – but it is he, the last remnant of the Galactico plan, that holds the key against Barcelona and beyond.

The Last Dance? PSG should just ask team sponsor Michael Jordan how that went for him and the Chicago Bulls in 1996…