the QSI project is expensive

Tuesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain said goodbye to the Champions League. One step from the final, the Ile-de-France residents fell against Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final (2-0 on aggregate). A huge disappointment for the French champions, who were nevertheless favorites on paper. On the pitch, it was something else entirely. Luis Enrique’s troops completely missed out on the two meetings against BVB, who knew how to be efficient and serious. After the match, President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was inevitably disappointed after failing so close to the goal.

The rest after this ad

PSG was close to reaching the goal

“We thought we were going to the final. We have a better team, but Dortmund have won twice, congratulations to them. We are disappointed for our supporters. But I am proud of my team. We’ve been in the semis three times in the last five years. Of course, that’s not our goal, but that’s football. We have to accept, even if it’s unfair, but we will accept it.” Since the arrival of QSI in 2011, PSG has always had the ambition of one day lifting the big-eared cup. To do this, the leaders invested massively in the transfer window and relied on several big names to carry out this project.

To read
Xavi Simons could bring €60 million to PSG

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Neymar Jr, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé are among the stars who said yes to Paris and QSI. If on the French scene this has borne fruit, in Europe, the residents of the Parc des Princes have not yet managed to win the Grail. They came close to winning in 2020, but lost in the final to Bayern Munich. As NAK indicated, the Ile-de-France residents have also reached the semi-finals on several occasions, like this season. But they have not yet passed the milestone which allows them to win in C1 like Manchester City last year.

The rest after this ad

A financial pit according to the Spanish press

Like PSG, the Citizens invested a lot and experienced several failures before achieving their goal. This is an example to follow for Parisians, who no longer necessarily plan to do so much crazy in the transfer window. But after the elimination against BVB, the PSG and Qatar project is however singled out by some. In Spain, A.S. speaks of a “2 billion euro shipwreck” before developing: “PSG has spent more than this amount since its takeover by Qatar and has failed, in 13 years, to win the Champions League”.

A.S. continues: “after 13 seasons, the record, even if it is indisputable in France, having won more than 80% of the titles, including 10 championships, is not positive if we look at the club’s performances in the Ligue des champions. Only three semi-finals, the last in 2024, a final, lost in 2020 against Bayern, are the baggage accumulated by a team to which the highest European competition has inflicted real headaches for more than a decade (…) PSG has spent, since 2011, 2.04 billion euros, an absolute record in France and Europe, settling the balance, the difference in income and expenses, at -1.312 million euros, an extraordinary deficit if the “we take into account that it was not able to win the Champions League (…) Qatar has realized that spending a lot of money on stars is not synonymous with success.”

The rest after this ad

A project to build without Mbappé

The Iberian media adds that in addition to the players, the French club also relied on renowned technicians like Ancelotti, Tuchel or Pochettino, who all failed. Marca also mentioned the Parisian investments which did not work. The media specifies that “1169 million euros” have been spent by QSI since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé. For his part, Relevo also pointed the finger at the extremely wealthy PSG. “A new season and a new failure. At PSG, things work like this. The French championship is taken for granted, since the project undermines any other club in the country, and decisions are made thinking of being able to reach the month of May and be able to win the Champions League. This has not happened yet, coaches, projects and millions continue to pass without obtaining the Grail. It may be unfair, an excessive demand, but it is what is in keeping with a pharaonic project.”

Relevo continues: “since Qatar joined PSG in 2011, the club has played in the competition 12 times, but has only managed to reach the final once. It was in the middle of the pandemic season, with an abnormal final phase, in Lisbon, without an audience. They were also beaten, in this case against Bayern Munich. Since the moment of acquisition, the club has spent just over 2 billion euros on players, countless projects in which they collected leagues – with a few notable exceptions – while in the spring they were only not up to par in Europe. Without Mbappé, the most likely thing will be to try to build on the same idea as this season, not to bet as much on a single star as on a solid group of good players.

The rest after this ad

Qatar is also wondering

Marca also mentioned the future Parisian project without KM7. “PSG still has the Cup final but a new stage has already begun at the club without Mbappé. The question is whether the club will be able to sustain and be competitive without their star, as it has once again been shown that if Kylian doesn’t score, there is no one to score. Qatar opted for a young team and Luis Enrique knew how to give his character to the team. It lacks packaging and is not that innocent or too revealing. Against Dortmund the plan was clear, but it collapsed because of this and another defensive error. It looked like the team could have spent an entire night trying to score and doing nothing at all.” In Qatar, the press is also interested in the failures of PSG and the continuation of this project.

Doha News wrote about this: “a new era is opening within the Parisian club since this could be Mbappé’s last match in the Champions League since he should leave the club at the end of the season (…) PSG has lost all six matches of its three return semi-finals of the Champions League after double defeats against Milan in 1995 and Manchester City in 2021. THE Qatar Tribune spoke about PSG complaining about hitting the posts several times before adding: “PSG, ​​who have already sent away Neymar and Lionel Messi as part of a shift towards younger players, will have to compete next season without their talisman as it appears top scorer Kylian Mbappe will leave for free in July.” In Qatar as elsewhere, we are wondering about the continuation of events and after Mbappé. PSG has a few months to answer all the questions.