Luis Enrique Sets PSG Three-Peat Champions League Challenge
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has set a new Champions League target: becoming the first side since Real Madrid to win the competition three years running. The French champions began their latest defence with a 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava last month and now face consecutive tests against Manchester City and Barcelona.
Quick facts
- Luis Enrique, 56, has led PSG since July 2023.
- PSG have won the past two Champions League titles and three Ligue 1 crowns under the Spaniard.
- Real Madrid remain the only club to have won three consecutive Champions Leagues, completing the run against Liverpool in the 2018 final.
- PSG visit Manchester City on Wednesday before hosting Barcelona on 20 October.
- Enrique has won 13 major trophies with PSG and has signed a new deal running until 2030.
Enrique said the holders have no intention of easing their standards after two successive European triumphs. He believes the chance to match Madrid’s historic run provides an additional incentive for a squad assembled to compete at the highest continental level.
“Winning it twice in a row is not a reason to stop,” Enrique said. “We are designed to compete in the Champions League, and we have the added motivation of trying to do something only Real Madrid have achieved. It is a special objective.”
PSG’s pursuit of a third straight title comes after a dominant domestic and European period. Enrique has delivered three Ligue 1 championships alongside the two Champions League successes since arriving at the Parc des Princes in July 2023.
City and Barcelona provide early measure
The league-phase schedule now gives PSG two demanding matches against established European challengers. City await in England on Wednesday, followed by Barcelona’s visit to Paris on 20 October.
Enrique won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015, but he expects no sentiment when his former club arrive. He identified both Barcelona and City among a sizeable group of realistic contenders for this season’s trophy.
“They are both clubs that want to win the Champions League, have done so before and are among the favourites,” he said. “There are six, seven or eight teams capable of winning it. We are one of them, but it will be difficult and we are not the obvious favourites.”
The Spaniard said his original mission in Paris was to establish a sustained winning culture, with the Champions League regarded as the club’s defining ambition. He considers the continual desire for trophies a requirement for players and managers operating at elite level.
His extension to 2030 has increased the scrutiny around that ambition, Enrique acknowledged. But he said the expectation remains unchanged: PSG must keep winning and add further silverware to the 13 major honours he has already collected in the French capital.
