Paris Saint-Germain administered their best season in the Champions League by lifting the trophy for the first time in the 2024-25 season. They became only the second French side in history to win the trophy and they did it in the most stylish way possible. After enduring numerous setbacks in competitions, the club abandoned the approach of chasing star names to concentrate on developing a team of talent with young blood and hiring a manager with tournament-winning experience. Everything contributed to a success that no one expected. Despite winning just one of the first five League Phase games with premature elimination looming, they managed to turn it around for one of the most incredible journeys to glory in the competition's history.
Here are the five memorable victories of PSG in the title-winning Champions League 2024-25 campaign:
PSG 4-2 Manchester City (League Phase, Match 7)
The 4-2 win against Manchester City was possibly the result that brought belief in PSG that they can progress further in the competition by qualifying for the knockouts. Despite ending their four-game winless run in the League Phase with a 3-0 victory over Salzburg in the previous match, facing Pep Guardiola’s side was challenging, regardless of their struggling status this campaign. City was also on the same track as PSG, though with slightly better form in the League Phase. After a goalless first half, the highly tense affair sprang into life in the second half, with the Premier League giants showing their attacking prowess, scoring back-to-back goals in quick succession through Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland. However, it was the home side that stunned everyone with their response, completely exposing the city’s defence and swinging the game to their favour from then on. Having a revolutionary campaign, Ousmane Dembélé pulled one back before Bradley Barcola’s genius made it level on the night. PSG weren’t done there as their constant pressure tormented City, with João Neves completing the stunning comeback in the 78th minute. Gonçalo Ramos added a fourth in the club’s only second win in the competition and the most crucial one to keep them alive in the competition
PSG 7-0 Brest (Knockout Playoff, 2nd Leg)
PSG then overcame VFB Stuttgart 4-1 to book their place in the knockouts, but to enter the last-16 stage, the Ligue 1 giants needed to beat fellow side Brest in the playoffs as they finished below the automatic spot in the 36-team League Phase table. Their opposition had a fairytale run in the competition by grabbing the playoff places, but PSG, with the wind in their sail now, could not allow any more slumps as they thrashed their opposition 3-0 in the first leg to set an early foot in the last-16 stage. However, it was the result in the second leg that raised eyebrows as the Parisians unleashed the full force of their attacking might and obliterated their opposition in one of the biggest margins of victory recorded in competition history. Barcola, winter signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Ramos and Senny Mayulu all contributed a staggering 7-0 pummeling of Brest as PSG roared to the next round of the competition with a 10-0 aggregate win.
Liverpool 0-1 PSG; 4-1 on penalties (Round of 16, 2nd Leg)
The real challenge was only getting started as PSG faced a tall task of overcoming eventual Premier League winners Liverpool, who also played a fantastic League Phase campaign in the competition, topping the 36-team League table by collecting 21 points from eight games. Liverpool demonstrated their resilience, but so did Paris, as they desperately wanted to win the first leg of the encounter to take an advantage at Anfield for the second leg, but it did not go to plan. Despite dominating the home leg against one of the best sides in the competition this season, placing 27 shots and controlling 70% possession, Luis Enrique’s side came out empty-handed, conceding from the only shot on target by the opposition and Alisson Becker’s heroics between the sticks. However, PSG’s performance caught the eye and they took it as their motivation without looking at the result for the big night in England. They managed to do what they failed to do at Paris, which is to have an end product to their chances created. Dembélé took advantage of a cross that was miscleared by Red’s defence to equalise on aggregate, which they held on for 120 minutes despite the opposing atmosphere. The French outfit showed incredible precision in the shootout, scoring each of their four from the spot, with the winning penalty coming from the prodigy Desire Doue. On the other hand, Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones back-to-back to help this team eliminate the Reds, acquiring the favourites tag in the competition.
PSG 2-1 Arsenal (semifinal, 2nd Leg)
Donnarumma’s vital contributions also came against Arsenal in the semifinals, but already produced a stunning show against another English side, Aston Villa, in the last eight. The Gunners defeated holders Real Madrid in the previous round, stunningly and the Parisians themselves in the League Phase, even preventing them from scoring in the 2-0 win. But this side was unlike any other in the past seasons, as they have turned into a workhorse under Enrique. With Donnarumma’s strong arms, PSG were able to take another 1-0 win in England to carry back home, but the former AC Milan keeper was only getting started. The 26-year-old played another fine evening in front of home support in the returning leg, denying a spirited start from Arsenal. Kvaratskhelia hit the post on the other hand, but Paris did not have to wait longer to double the aggregate advantage with Fabian Ruiz smashing in the volley from a clearance out of a free-kick in the half-hour mark. Donnarumma then sensationally clawed an almost certain goal from Bukayo Saka early in the second half, forcing PSG to go for the second, which they did through Achraf Hakimi despite Vitinha missing a penalty earlier. Saka managed to find the net later in the game, but it became too little too late as the home side roared on to the showpiece
PSG 5-0 Inter Milan (Final)
Finally, PSG have assembled a team that can carry them through the toughest challenge in Europe to reach the Champions League final without having a superstar ego and functioning as a unit. However, if it were anything like their 2020 final loss and the other failures sustained in the competition, they would still be mocked. So, Luis Enrique repeated his streak 10 years ago when he won the competition with Barcelona, guiding a young-talented PSG outfit to create history by producing the biggest win in the Champions League final history. Inspired by teenage sensation Doue, becoming the youngest to score a brace in the showpiece and the first player to make a three-goal contribution at this stage, the Parisians romped past a tired-looking Inter team with the Frenchman assisting Hakimi before his strikes and Kvaratskhelia and Mayulu's late goals registering a stunning 5-0 victory in the evening at Munich. PSG touched glory at last after years of pain and it was wise that they accomplished it in the best way possible.
