CRAIG HOPE: PSG have transformed from a team of disconnected superstars to one worthy of respect and admiration – winning the Champions League would provide Kylian Mbappe with his perfect ending

Paris Saint-Germain has been here before (twice in a Champions League semi-final in the past four seasons), but not like this. Not with a team that is, whisper it, likeable. Not with a team that has structure and strategy. And not with a team for whom football, and not fame and fantasy, is the only focus.

There is still Kylian Mbappe, and the flashbulbs that illuminated his presence here in Dortmund on Tuesday night confirmed that the circus is underway. But the ball jugglers and those on stilts – Neymar and Lionel Messi – are no more. Prize winners such as Sergio Ramos have also been released back into the wild.

“PSG used to be a Harlem Globetrotters club,” says France Football journalist Dave Appadoo. ‘There were superstars, but they were not involved or invested in the club. When the same players arrive in Madrid, Manchester or Munich, they are honored to be there.

‘For PSG it was the other way around, it was the club that was honored to have them. It was not a healthy relationship. It was a show of communications and marketing, not football. It was awkward. Now, fans, the media, it’s like, “Oh, we’re talking about football.” That’s unusual, because PSG is not used to being liked!’

This being PSG, the tightrope walk isn’t completely abandoned. Luis Enrique’s side were progressing to the group stages before teenage sensation Warren Zaire-Emery rescued a draw against Dortmund at the very same stadium. They lost at home to Barcelona in the first leg of the quarter-final and Spain’s turnaround was aided by a home red card.

This year’s version of the Ligue 1 series champions feels different under Luis Enrique

The club is about to look back on the Galaticos era, marked by the signings of players such as Lionel Messi (left) and Neymar Jnr (right)

Even the confirmation of a third straight Ligue 1 title this weekend needed rivals Monaco to lose after PSG drew 3-3 at home to lowly Le Havre. But amid the chaos there is coherence and competence. Spirit too.

“Over the last ten months the philosophy has changed,” says Appadoo, with PSG unbeaten in 32 home games and on course for a historic quadruple.

‘They have brought in players who are not superstars. They are very good players, but they come without ego. There are no more divas, the emotional drama queens. The new structure of the dressing room, with a good coach who has clear football ideas, has made the change possible.

“Before that, it was impossible for any coach – Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier – to coach.”

Ahead of last season’s match against Bayern Munich, Neymar met the press at the Parc des Princes. I was there. He bounced into the media room with his megawatt smile and diamond earring. However, over his shoulder hung a bag of dirty linen. He seemed to relish putting it out there for the world to see, confirming reports of a dressing room confrontation with sporting director Luis Campos and then hunting down the squad mole. Next to him, the subdued coach Galtier might as well have been holding the clothesline. They lost 1-0 to Bayern the next evening and 2-0 in the second leg.

The Brazilian superstar cut a nonchalant figure during his press conference ahead of a European meeting with Bayern Munich

Messi’s unveiling at PSG in 2021 marked the start of a magical period in France for the Barcelona icon

I was also present in the same room for Lionel Messi’s unveiling in August 2021, and apparently much happier than the Argentinian to be. It wasn’t so much a revelation as a concealment of the truth. He wanted to be in Barcelona, ​​not Paris. On second thought, it was completely appropriate that he came in wearing a mask.

PSG exited this competition twice in the last 16 with Messi and so, after 13 years of Qatari ownership, defeat to Bayern in the 2020 final remains their best return. Critics of the state-funded project have been salivating over the drought in Europe and while PSG will never be universally loved, at least there is now respect and admiration for those on the pitch and in the dugout.

French newspaper L’Equipe declared on Tuesday: ‘PSG’s new star is Luis Enrique. With the departures of Messi, Neymar and soon Mbappé, Luis Enrique has become the most important incarnation of the PSG project.”

At the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, the Spanish boss met the media on Tuesday evening in typically spirited mood. One reporter said PSG were heavy favorites to win. “It shows that the press doesn’t know much about football,” Enrique replied. He laughed, but it wasn’t a joke.

Enrique is confrontational, yet fiercely protective of his players. “He’s not having any of it,” says a source. Striker Goncalo Ramos spoke of a ‘family’. The days of Messi and the marriages of discomfort are over.

Head coach Enrique is still aiming for a historic quadruple victory, but seals the national title

Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos (right) has discussed how the team feels more like a family

Vitinha is one of the standouts in a team that was previously littered with superstars with bold names

Kylian Mbappé is about to call time on his trip to Paris, but dreams fervently of European glory

That’s off the field. This includes the midfield mastery of Vitinha, who had an unremarkable loan spell at Wolves three years ago. There’s the rebirth of winger Ousmane Dembélé, a £117m flop at Barcelona, ​​a £42m star at PSG.

Then there is Mbappé, who will leave for Real Madrid this summer. The irony is that after six years at the club, this is finally the team he wanted to play in.

“This team is the perfect match with a superstar like Kylian, who above all wants to win,” says Appadoo. ‘He’s not like Neymar. He is a strict professional. It’s a shame he’s leaving now. It would be the perfect ending if he did that by winning the Champions League.”

An end for Mbappé perhaps, but this feels like the beginning of something new for the club he leaves behind.