Five years after the sextuple of Hansi Flick’s Bayern, Luis Enrique’s PSG have the chance to repeat it to crown an already spectacular year. A semi-final against Real Madrid is an anticipated final that raises the bar even higher
Just a month ago, PSG were dreaming of winning the Champions League to seal a historic season. They did just that. But greatness still has much more ambitious goals in store. Because the treble can be multiplied by two. For the planet football to see a sextuple five years later.
In 2020, Hansi Flick and his unstoppable Bayern achieved it. To join a club that until then was solely owned by Guardiola’s Barcelona (2009). Luis Enrique and the Parisian team have the chance to be the third in history.
All of them with the same string of titles: La Liga, domestic Cup and Super Cup, Champions League, Club World Cup and European Super Cup. However, Paris Saint-Germain are still only halfway there.
In fact, they are still two games away from lifting the current competition. But the semi-final clash against Real Madrid is seen as an anticipated final. It is also seen as the ultimate acid test. The ‘Merengues’, experts in this type of competition, are raising the bar higher than ever in the campaign. Even more so than in the Champions League final, given that Xabi Alonso’s side are a better side than Inter Milan.
So the feeling is that, if Real Madrid are unable to stop PSG, it will be difficult for anyone else to do so. Chelsea or Fluminense in the hypothetical final, Tottenham in the European Super Cup and some lesser opponent (at least on paper) in the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup would separate Luis Enrique and his team from an unforgettable season. Literally, because they would have won every title in contention for 2025.
To date, only eight teams can boast of having beaten the French side this season: Arsenal (2-0), Atletico Madrid (1-2), Bayern (1-0), Liverpool (0-1), Aston Villa (3-2), Nice (1-3), Strasbourg (2-1) and, three weeks ago, Botafogo (0-1).