Paris Saint-Germain reclaimed the Ligue 1 title from Monaco with a 7-1 thrashing on April 15 in a devastating demonstration of shock and awe. That title added to their League Cup triumph and the French Cup win meant they won the treble for the third time in the past four years. And yet one of Europe’s richest clubs brims with ennui.
PSG’s progress is now defined in the binary terms of the Champions League. Being swept 5-2 over two legs in the last 16 by the ancien regime power of Real Madrid was a final nail for coach Unai Emery.
Thomas Tuchel, the former Borussia Dortmund coach, has now been given the task of taking the Qatar-owned club to the promised land of Champions League triumph.
In European competition, the PSG project has failed to compete with the traditions of Bayern, let alone Real Madrid or Barcelona, who ended their past two Champions League campaigns. The last time les Rouge-et-Bleu were in the competition’s last four was back in 1994-5, when David Ginola and George Weah were the team’s stars. Four straight losing quarterfinals from 2012-13 to 2015-16 are as far has been breached since Nasser Al-Khelaifi became club president in 2011 as part of Qatar Sports Investments’ takeover.
Meanwhile, despite Monaco’s surprise success last season, Ligue 1 has become an unfulfilling procession.
“As PSG fans, we have the feeling that the league isn’t fair and we’re more focused on the Champions League because in the French league if you want to beat PSG you have to be amazing,” said Pierre Barthelemy, 32, a Parisian lawyer, life-long PSG supporter and elected member of the Board of the French National Fans Association (ANS) and of Football Supporters Europe (FSE). “Monaco were able to do that last season, but from a long-term perspective it’s impossible to challenge PSG domestically.”
With the league title all but a certainty each season, many fans place greater importance on PSG’s exploits in the two domestic cups in which the club has not lost a tie since January 2014.
“The league is boring. After 10-15 games we know we’ll win it, but in the cup you can be eliminated in every game and no other club in Europe has gone so long unbeaten in cup competitions,” Barthelemy said. “In the league, we could lose five games and still be champions. As a fan, it’s easier to get excited about the cups.”
How to get better in the Champions League? Tuchel requires freer rein to overhaul PSG’s squad and playing style than Emery was granted. The 4-2-3-1 pressing game with which Sevilla destroyed Liverpool in the 2016 Europa League final lasted a matter of weeks in Paris before established stars Thiago Silva and Thiago Motta bent the ear of Al-Khelaifi and PSG reverted to the 4-3-3 passing style previous coach Laurent Blanc employed.
With Motta, 35, now retired, that dressing-room power base dwindles with Silva, 33, also linked with an exit. Instead, the dynamic has shifted to the club’s Financial Fair Play-busting purchases of “galactico” stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
However, Neymar’s commitment to both the disciplines required to challenge for the Ballon D’Or and PSG itself are doubtful. There have been multiple reports of a heavy dedication to partying and absent from PSG’s team since a February foot injury he chose to have treated in Brazil. Since then there have been rumors swirling around that he wants a move to Real Madrid, and when Neymar posted an Instagram image of playing online poker during that title-clinching victory over Monaco, he sparked Parisian outrage. Former France striker Christophe Duggary said Neymar had “spat on PSG” and the Brazilian was forced to explain, and somewhat unconvincingly, that poker was a key part of his recovery regime.
PSG fan and reporter Jonathan Johnson says the club’s fanbase, while happy with Neymar’s pre-injury performances, remains realistic.
“They are not under any illusion he is going to spend the rest of his career in Paris,” he said.
“It’s a vehicle for him. PSG fans are delighted to have have him but they are not too worried.”
Barthelemy concurs: “I was against signing Neymar because €220 million is unreasonable, but from a marketing perspective it was important for PSG and Qatar — it was more of a political than a sporting decision to sign him.”
With Real Madrid looking to rebuild, Neymar might well depart after this summer’s World Cup. There is always Mbappe, and there are other concerns, with Motta leaving a huge hole in defensive midfield that Adrien Rabiot, earmarked as a future captain, is reluctant to fill and where Argentinian Giovani Lo Celso struggled catastrophically against Real.
Another redevelopment process begins though only success in the Champions League will deliver true fulfilment for PSG and their fans.
Thomas Tuchel tasked with correcting PSG’s Champions League failures
Thomas Tuchel tasked with correcting PSG’s Champions League failures
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
