Paris St-Germain delivered a statement performance in the Champions League on Wednesday, tearing Manchester City apart in a 4-2 victory that left Luis Enrique’s side firmly on track for a third consecutive European crown. The back-to-back champions raced into a 3-0 half-time lead and, despite a spirited second-half fightback from the Premier League leaders, still managed to score again.
PSG’s recent European record already marks them out as the dominant force of the modern era. They obliterated Inter Milan 5-0 in the 2025 final before squeezing past Arsenal on penalties in last season’s showpiece. A third successive title would make them only the fifth team to achieve the feat since the European Champion Clubs’ Cup began in 1955, and just the second in the Champions League era.
“This PSG team are on a different level,” Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live at half-time. “They have just run all over Manchester City, who haven’t been able to string passes together. It’s been an absolute pummelling for Man City.” Sutton later added: “PSG’s press, I don’t think there’s another team that press with their intensity and ferocity. This [City] is one of the best teams in the Premier League getting an absolutely roasting. This is them [PSG] having a slow start to the season. Heaven help everyone.”
That slow start has been a familiar pattern. PSG were lacklustre domestically early on — as they often are — but boast an uncanny ability to click into gear when it matters. In Manchester, they were at their unstoppable best: a ruthless blend of silky flicks and slick off-the-ball movement that left a dazed City several frames behind.
The Parisians have been France’s most dominant force since Qatar Sports Investments arrived 15 years ago, but it took a change of approach for the holy grail of continental success to arrive. “It’s the end of the glitter,” president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said, ushering out the “flashy, bling-bling” era of lavish spending. Enrique arrived in 2023 intent on building a coherent team. There was still significant investment, but in younger players who could be moulded by his philosophy and discipline while being given room to flourish. The result has been two scintillating Champions League triumphs.
PSG’s current run invites comparison with the most dominant sides in European history. Real Madrid set the benchmark with five successive European Cup triumphs from 1955 to 1960, a run featuring Alfredo Di Stefano and, from 1958, Ferenc Puskas. Ajax then won three in a row between 1968 and 1973 under Rinus Michels and Stefan Kovacs, pioneering Total Football, before Bayern Munich — led by Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller — matched that feat from 1973 to 1976. In the Champions League era, Real Madrid became the first club to retain the trophy and then lift three in a row under Zinedine Zidane between 2013 and 2018, with Cristiano Ronaldo spearheading the side.
Others on the list built dynasties in different ways. Inter Milan, under Helenio Herrera, won back-to-back European Cups in 1964 and 1965 with their ruthless counter-attacking ‘Grande Inter’ side. Benfica, inspired by Eusebio, triumphed in 1961 and 1962 under Bela Guttmann. Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan won back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990 and added another in 1994, while Liverpool claimed four European Cups between 1977 and 1984 through the Boot Room succession of Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, European champions twice in three years, were defined as much by their legacy — the tiki-taka style built around La Masia graduates — as by their silverware.
For now, PSG’s focus is on the present. They are chasing five pieces of silverware this season, but their dismantling of City served as a reminder of why the rest of Europe should not bet against them becoming continental champions for a third successive season.