Kylian Mbappe’s era in Paris is over. He didn’t succeed either… The fact that the greatest ‘football son of Paris’ failed in the historic chance to be the first to bring the European crown to the Arc de Triomphe – does not boost confidence for the generations to come…Borussia Dortmund’s entire starting lineup last night cost just €6,000,000 more than what PSG paid to bring in Kylian Mbappe. Since the state of Qatar bought the French club through its funds in 2011, 1,940,000,000 euros were spent on transfers of new players. We don’t count in the free players who came like Leo Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Buffon, David Beckham, Dani Alves, Ander Herrera, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Milan Skriniar… And they cost a lot with their pharaonic contracts. Who knows how much PSG still spent on player contracts, bringing in and firing coaches… Billions are at stake.And the ultimate goal, called the Champions League trophy, was not achieved.Borussia Dortmund’s son who defeated PSGDuring that entire period, PSG played only one final, two semi-finals, four quarter-finals and was eliminated five times in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Along with stars like Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Di Maria, Verratti, Buffon, Lavezzi, Icardi, Pastore, Ramos… Big coaching names sat on the bench. Two of them are tonight’s rivals in the second semi-final of the Champions League, but they did not last long in Paris.Another painful elimination has again ignited the question of the justification of Qatari investments at the Parc des Princes.Truth be told, PSG won twice as many trophies (32) in the Qatar era than in the club’s entire history (15). But these are all domestic trophies that could mostly be won without so much investment. They didn’t really need Messi and Neymar for the French Cup. A lot has been done on the global promotion and brand of the club. Today, PSG is the fourth club in the world by the number of followers on social networks. There are stores in Miami, New York, Tokyo… Stardom celebrities are regular guests at the Parc des Princes. The club holds strong positions in UEFA and ECA. All this was brought about by Arab money.But in terms of the number of European trophies, no step forward was made. PSG still hold only the Cup Winners’ Cup from 1996.In the Qatar era, PSG had various cycles. Ibrahimović’s, then Neymar’s and Mbappe’s, then the two of them plus Messi, in the end only Mbappe… And they all ended without a European title. Now that it is certain that Mbappe will leave at the end of the season, there is talk of a new project again.##EDITORS_CHOICE##”This team gave a lot, we tried to make all the fans proud, we tried to do our best, but it wasn’t enough. I don’t know if they were better than us, but there is no need to humiliate the opponent. In my humble opinion, they were better than us. Everyone will analyze it, but the truth is that they attacked us once or twice and scored a goal. And we attacked and did not score a goal. It is impossible to ignore this. I don’t like to talk about bad luck. If you’re good, you don’t hit the post, it goes into the goal,” Mbappe said after the elimination, which to many seemed like a farewell speech.In both games, all eyes were on him and he was expected to be a leader like in the national team, but he did not score a single goal.”I tried to help the team as much as I could, it wasn’t enough. When we talk about efficiency in the penalty area, I am the first person to be concerned. I am the one who should score goals and decide the match. When that happens, I get all the credit. When it’s not, I have to take the blame. I have no problem with that.”Without him, PSG will again have to look for a new style and identity. For years he was the first star of the team and everything was subordinated to him. Even when Neymar and Messi were there. Without him it will be a completely different story. Maybe better, but maybe worse. After all, he is the most valuable player in world football and a player destined to be the best on the planet. Such a player is not so easily compensated… Although PSG has some direction they want and could go without Mbappe.”In these two games, we showed a lot of positive things. At the beginning of the season, no one believed in us that we would make it this far. This is a new project with a new coach and a lot of changes,” said captain Marquinhos.PSG’s loss to Dortmund on Tuesday is the first time in our database a team had 30+ shots in a Champions League game without scoring.#PSG | #UCL pic.twitter.com/yIYFGVu0JL— ⚽ FBref ⚽ (@fbref) May 8, 2024 The story of the new project is being talked about for the umpteenth time at the Parc des Princes when elimination from the Champions League takes place. Marquinhos’ words are valid up to a point. PSG has changed a lot in the last two years, but there aren’t many arguments for excuses about the likable outsider who rejuvenated the team and are not favorites. Since Luis Campos has made a big impact as the main man for sports policy in the last two years, PSG has made a turnaround. He mainly invested in young players like Vitinha, Mendes, Soler, Ekitike, Mukiele, Barcola, Lee, Ramos, Ugarte, Kolo Muani…They did rejuvenate, but they paid as if they wer bringing in the biggest stars. And when you pay a fortune for something, then you expect maximum results. Just last summer, PSG spent 400,000,000 euros on reinforcements! In the last two years, a total of 600,000,000. Probably only PSG has the luxury of having a €95,000,000 attacker (Kolo Muani) sitting on the bench last night and not playing at all. These are all facts that the Parc des Princes would be happy to mask with the story of a new project.”Our future is bright. We are building a long-term project with the youngest team in Europe”, commented Luis Enrique angrily last night.‘The Holy Spirit decides who will go through’Even he did not make the biggest success in his coaching career with new projects and young players, but he leaned on the foundations of Guardiola’s Barcelona and won the treble. When he tried to rejuvenate the Spanish national team and start a new project, it ended infamously with eliminations against Italy and Morocco.It is true that PSG and Enrique were not lucky in the two-leg semi-final, that they took 45 shots and hit the goal post six times, but it is also true that before that they barely passed the group with Borussia, AC Milan and Newcastle against whom they were extremely lucky. They had the same number of points as Milan, who finished in the Europa League.We will see what will be the club’s response to Mbappe’s departure. PSG is no longer such an overwhelming environment as it was in previous years. More and more players – Bellingham is the best example – are choosing offers from other clubs, the traditional powerhouses of European football. Of course, a lot of money can do a lot of things. The only question is how the Qataris will react this summer. The hunt for the eary goblet will not be interrupted.It took Manchester City 15 years to crown the huge investment with the European title. Pep Guardiola waited 10 years for the final and 12 years for a new title in the elite competition. The greats like Ronaldo Fenomeno or Ibrahimovic have never won a prestigious competition, but that does not diminish their careers at all. The Champions League is not so easily won…However, PSG is in a slightly different situation. The club from the Parc des Princes is a one-eyed giant in the land of the blind when it comes to domestic competitions and does not have to be exhausted every weekend like clubs from England, Spain, Italy, Germany… Their league is weaker and the competition poorer, so they usually stroll through the championship. That’s why the pressure to prove yourself on the strongest stage is even greater.No matter what they say and try to take the pressure off, no one sees past the obvious.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUESemifinals – second legTuesdayPSG – Dortmund 0-1 (0-0) /first leg 0-1//Hummels 50/Wednesday22:00: (1.95) Real Madrid (3.50) Bayern (3.90) /first leg 2-2/***odds are subject to change***
