There is an atmosphere in Paris now when Paris Saint-Germain play. It spreads throughout the city, among the brasseries and the bars that line its boulevards and pack its backstreets and it seeps into the hearts and minds of the supporters who have turned the Parc des Princes into one of the most raucous cauldrons in European football.
It is a feeling that approaches certainty. It is a feeling of pride in its team and an expectation that it will win. You could feel it Barcelona when Pep Guardiola was the manager there. You could feel it in Madrid in the days of Ronaldo and Benzema. You could feel it in Manchester when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side was the best in Europe.
It was like that earlier this month when PSG quickened their step in their pursuit of back-to-back Champions League triumphs. Luis Enrique’s side were not at their imperious best when they beat Liverpool at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The truth is that they did not have to be.
Liverpool are not the team they were last season but PSG already look more than the team that swept everything before it in 2024-25, winning the best club competition in the world less than a year ago by sweeping aside Inter Milan in the final in Munich.
That demolition job did not feel like the end of something. It felt like the start of something. It felt as if it might be the beginning of a PSG dynasty, a series of successes that might challenge periods of dominance established in the past by giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona.
That feeling will be put to its sternest test so far on Tuesday in the French capital when PSG come up against the might of Bayern Munich and the fearsome form of free-scoring England striker Harry Kane in the first leg of their semi-final.
PSG cruised to their first Champions League title last season, thumping Inter Milan in the final
And this season they are gathering pace at the right time again, beating Liverpool 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four showdown with Bayern Munich
But PSG are the favourites and they deserve to be. They have some wonderful players – Ousmane Dembele is the current holder of the Ballon d’Or – but most of all they are a team. They are more than the sum of their parts, even though their parts are spectacular. Luis Enrique would not have it any other way.
There are lots of contenders for the title of the best midfielder in the world at the moment – Pedri, Rodri and Jude Bellingham are often mentioned – but Vitinha has the best claim of all to that throne.
He is the hub of PSG. He is grace under pressure personified. He dictates the tempo of PSG’s play, he is a master at retaining possession, he is a metronomic passer and he is brilliant at finding the balls that will unlock the speed and guile of Dembele, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
PSG have threats everywhere. That attacking trio is like quicksilver running through your hands. But PSG come at you from every direction. Their full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, are the best full-backs in the game. They have the ability to play like wingers as well as defend. Their pace and their energy is bewildering. They rampage through defences like auxiliary forwards.
Long gone are the days when PSG were known for trying to replicate the flawed Galactico era once pursued by Real Madrid. It was eye-catching to have a front line that included Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi but it had no foundation. It did not work.
Luis Enrique came in and changed all that. He has built a team to last at PSG, a team that, once again, looks like the favourite to claim the biggest prize in club football. If they can get past Bayern, PSG will be hot favourites to win the title in Budapest at the end of next month. If they do it, they will be the first time since Real Madrid, eight years ago, to seal back-to-back triumphs. Then, their place in history will be assured.
PSG have quality throughout their team, but Vitinha is the best midfielder in the world right now
They have threats everywhere, yet Luis Enrique’s side are more than the sum of their parts
And here are my five greatest sides in the Champions League era…
Barcelona 2008-09
The best club side I’ve ever seen and ever will see. It had everything but in particular it had a midfield of all-time greats in Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta and it had the greatest player of all-time, Lionel Messi, further forward.
If that wasn’t enough, they had one of the greatest coaches of all time, Pep Guardiola, drawing it altogether. They were spellbinding.
When they won the final in Rome, Manchester United never had a chance. You know it’s an unbelievable team when Thierry Henry is an afterthought.
Manchester United 1998-99
It sometimes feels as if our familiarity with this Sir Alex Ferguson Treble-winning side has made us a little bit blasé about quite how good they were.
Roy Keane, at the centre of it all, is one of the best five players in Premier League history, David Beckham was the best crosser of the ball we have ever seen, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke were a brilliant pair up front and all that’s before we get to the Nou Camp and the way United, a team that never gave up, produced the greatest final comeback of all-time to beat Bayern Munich.
Man United’s Treble-winning side of 1998-99 are in my top five Champions League teams ever
Real Madrid 2016-17
Another team with an eye-wateringly good midfield. Imagine having both Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the same side, anchored by prime Casemiro, all supplying two of the greatest forwards ever in Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
This iteration of Madrid was so good Gareth Bale only made the bench in the final against Juventus, which Madrid won at a canter.
Real Madrid’s side in 2016-17 had world class quality everywhere (pictured above – Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro celebrate during their semi-final triumph over Atletico that season)
PSG 2024-25
A beautiful team to watch. They took the best sides in the Premier League, supposedly the best league in the world, and they laid them all to waste.
A blur of movement when they are attacking, a team that is so fluid it sometimes feels as if it is approaching a version of total football. The best of the modern-day.
Real Madrid 1999-00
Part of the reason I’m including this Madrid team is because Fernando Redondo’s backheel flick past Henning Berg at Old Trafford in the quarter-finals and pass across goal for a Raul tap-in was one of the best goals I’ve ever seen live.
This was a great side and Madrid capped off their campaign with a crushing victory over Valencia in the final in which Steve McManaman scored and was man of the match.
