‘Everybody was surprised’ – How PSG moved on from Mbappe to become UCL finalists

There were many questions as to how Paris Saint-Germain would fare without Kylian Mbappe, but Luis Enrique’s side have come up with all of the answers so far

Many thought Kylian Mbappe’s departure would be a disaster, but Paris Saint-Germain have stood tall. The prodigal French striker allowed his contract to run down, before departing the capital to join Real Madrid last summer as a free agent.

His exit marked the end of a glitzy era, where PSG signed the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos and Mbappe, without ever winning the Champions League. PSG were planning for his exit, while he was still at the club, bolstering their squad with a transfer outlay of 16 players, 12 of which were under the age of 25.

With Luis Enrique given full freedom to apply his philosophy, their ascent from glitzy, European chokers to Champions League favourites has been breath-taking. Even former PSG midfielder and Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Claude Makelele was surprised by the improvement.

In an exclusive interview with Mirror Football, speaking on behalf of bet365, Makelele said: “Kylian Mbappe is a quality player. But in football, you cannot calculate these things.

“I think since Mbappe has been gone, Paris Saint-Germain have not been under as much pressure. They have had time to build different platforms within the team and, slowly, slowly, they have grown.

“People have not focussed as much on them, they have focussed on Real Madrid, Mbappe and the story and it has worked out in a good way for PSG. They’ve had the time, but when they arrived, everybody was surprised.

“But Paris Saint-Germain have got great quality, great players and deserve to be in the final.”

Watch our full Champions League final interview with Paul Ince and Claude Makelele here

For a long time, many teams felt they would stop PSG if they controlled Mbappe. Now opposing defenders have to contend with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, Bardley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele running at or behind them.

That quartet have contributed 73 goals between them this season, while the likes of Goncalo Ramos and Kang-in Lee have also shared 24 goals. One of their few transfer misses has been the signing of French international Randal Kolo-Muani, who has only scored 11 goals in 54 appearances since his £76.4m move from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2023 – in January, the forward was loaned to Juventus.

After losing three and drawing one of their first five Champions League matches in the league phase, PSG roared back with dominant victories against RB Salzburg, Manchester City and Stuttgart, before a 10-0 aggregate demolition of Brest in the knockout phase play-off showed they meant business.

Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal all fell before Enrique’s young guns. However, Inter Milan is a completely different challenge for the Parisians, as their heavily experienced team have already knocked out one young and dynamic side in Barcelona.

But Makelele feels this team are ready for the challenge, as a result of the players that have been brought in during Enrique’s project. The Chelsea legend added: “I think they’ve (PSG) corrected many mistakes they made before.

“Of course, we all dream about a team with a lot of big players, but many teams they cannot deal with this. I think they realised, ‘Okay, we will need to build for longer to win these kind of trophies and think in a different way’.

“Now, they are achieving success. Teams around the world are taking Paris Saint-Germain seriously. They are a big brand all around the world.

“They are starting to play proper football and they are achieving success. The only trophy waiting for them is the Champions League. It’s not easy to win, but they have this opportunity. For me, this game is 50/50.”

Claude Makélélé was speaking on behalf of bet365, the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League, which is hosting its Big Ticket Giveaway Game this Friday 30th May in Munich from 4pm, where fans have the chance to win tickets to the UEFA Champions League final. Full Terms and Conditions apply. Gamble Responsibly. Full interview can be found at bet365 News.

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