sport news CRAIG HOPE: Paris Saint-Germain have transformed from a team of disconnected ... trends now
Paris Saint-Germain have been here before - twice in a Champions League semi-final in the past four seasons - but not like this. Not with a team who are, whisper it, likeable. Not with a team who have structure and strategy. And not with a team for whom football, not fame and fantasy, is the sole focus.
There is still Kylian Mbappe, and the flashbulbs that illuminated his presence here in Dortmund on Tuesday night confirmed the circus remains in transit. But the ball jugglers and those elevated on stilts - Neymar and Lionel Messi - are no more. Prize tigers like Sergio Ramos have also been returned to the wild.
‘In the past, PSG was a club of Harlem Globetrotters,' says journalist Dave Appadoo of France Football. ‘There were superstars, but they weren’t involved or invested in the club. The same players, when they arrive in Madrid, Manchester or Munich, they are honoured to be there.
‘For PSG, it was the reverse, it was the club who were honoured to have them. It was not a healthy relationship. It was a show of communication and marketing, not football. It was uncomfortable. Now, fans, the media, it is like, “Oh, we are talking about football”. It is unusual, because PSG are not used to being liked!’
This being PSG, the high-wire act has not been altogether abandoned. Luis Enrique’s side were heading out at the group stage before teen sensation Warren Zaire-Emery rescued a draw against Dortmund, at this very same stadium. They lost at home to Barcelona in the quarter-final first leg and the turnaround in Spain was aided by a home red card.
Paris Saint-Germain have long dreamt of a maiden Champions League title but it has continued to elude them
This year's iteration of the Ligue 1 serial champions has a different feel under Luis Enrique
The club is set to call time on its era of Galaticos - typified by the signing of players such as Lionel Messi (left) and Neymar Jnr (right)
Even confirmation of a third straight Ligue 1 title at the weekend needed rivals Monaco to lose after PSG drew 3-3 at home lowly Le Havre. But amid the chaos, there has been evidence of cohesion and competence. Spirit, too.
‘The last 10 months, the philosophy has changed,’ says Appadoo, with PSG unbeaten in 32 domestic matches and on course for an historic quadruple.
‘They have brought in players who are not superstars. They are very good players, but they arrive without the 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, for any coach - Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier - it was impossible to manage, to coach.’
Ahead of last season’s round-of-16 tie
