Last summer, Paris changed everything. In Ligue 1, nothing changes. PSG won a new French champion title this Wednesday thanks to their draw against Le Havre (3-3) and especially Monaco’s defeat against Lyon (3-2). Routine. It is necessary to measure the Parisian influence on Ligue 1 for more than ten years now. This title, the 12th in history, is also the third in a row and, more spectacularly, the 10th in the last 12 seasons. This year, as for ages, there is Paris and the others in the French championship.
A year after only edging Lens by a small point, PSG reigned supreme. Nice had a vague illusion until the 13th day. The capital club has resumed its good old habits and yet, contrary to what the course of the season might suggest, this title is not like the others. Adversity has nothing to do with this observation because the L1 is still looking for a strong competitor to compete, in the long term, for the title in Paris.
If this coronation is so singular, it is because it crowns two seasons in one
If this coronation is so singular, it is because it crowns two seasons in one. The first, that of a Kylian Mbappé who held on his shoulders a suffering collective of which we did not really know what to think. This was both a relic of everything that Paris had known before, with coaches incapable of giving a personality to their team, and a draft of what it would become afterwards.
Because for two months, and after a sluggish sequence where it was necessary to digest the gradual demotion of the best Parisian player, PSG has found a team. For the first time since Laurent Blanc, a coach, Luis Enrique in this case, left his mark on his team. A process made possible by the mass departures of genius individuals who made the collective fragile (Neymar, Lionel Messi). Even if this exile did not prevent Paris from having its psychodrama with the early departure of Mbappé and the sanction of a coach determined to establish his authority. These two definitely embodied the season.
A turning point in the club’s recent history
Because this title, PSG obviously owes it first to Kylian Mbappé, top scorer, best player and backbone of Parisian domination. Then Luis Enrique, the gray matter of a team which has, little by little, learned to live in Ligue 1 without its superstar and even almost without a star at all. PSG proved that the absence of Mbappé was not inevitable despite a season which will remain as the most successful of Bondy’s crack.
A very curious paradox for a season which is just as curious since PSG has never been so dependent on an individuality before managing to get rid of it. In any case, it marks a turning point in the recent history of the club since it turns its back on everything that has so far built the Paris of QSI, the glitter and the bloats. Mbappé’s last French championship title is also the first for Luis Enrique’s PSG. A title unlike any other.
