PSG’s Tilt at Champions League Three-Peat

For the past two seasons, Paris Saint-Germain have scaled the Champions League peak. They have proven an untouchable force, sweeping aside all who dared to challenge them.

Yes, the French giants have become the benchmark for aspiring teams with their swashbuckling style, and they have now set their sights on a new goal – achieving a three-peat.

Real Madrid, let’s not forget, are the only team in the Champions League era to record a hat-trick of consecutive triumphs, creating a dynasty between 2016 and 2018. Joining that rarefied atmosphere will therefore require something extraordinary from PSG.

Can PSG do it? We’ve assessed their chances of taking their place in the history books.

A worrying trend has emerged in each of PSG’s Champions League-winning campaigns as they have been slow coming out of the blocks.

Last term, some mixed results in the league phase saw them finish 11th, and they were pushed all the way by Monaco before prevailing 5-4 on aggregate in a nail-biting knockout play-off game.

In 2024/25, they could only muster a 15th-place finish, and again, they needed a play-off to reach the Last 16. But things were much more comfortable on that occasion, eviscerating Brest 10-0 on aggregate.

To a certain extent, PSG have lost their way in the league phase, and that has been their Achilles’ heel. Nevertheless with Enrique, they have a tactician who blends fluidity with structure, and he will ensure they keep their foot on the gas.

Consistency and stability are two defining traits of any successful side. In both their Champions League triumphs, PSG started the Final with the same 10 outfield players, with only the goalkeeper changing.

Over the summer, PSG pulled off some intriguing deals, including snapping up Ferran Torres. Indeed, Torres, who kickstarted this Champions League campaign with a stunning hat-trick in PSG’s 6-1 thrashing of Slovan Bratislava, is available at 11.00 with many of the leading crypto bookies, including Jackpotter, to finish this campaign as top scorer.

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Nevertheless, the spine of the side is still extremely strong. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was PSG’s leading marksman in the competition last term with 10 goals, and his six assists (joint with Achraf Hakimi) meant he contributed 16 goal involvements.

While Bradley Barcola’s departure to Liverpool represented a blow, Enrique has moulded PSG in his image, and they are breathtaking in full flow. With Marquinhos and Willian Pacho providing the defensive foundations, this has given full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi the freedom to roam forward.

Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, and Kvaratskhelia have been the piercing presences up front, and they can wreak havoc on teams. Meanwhile, Vitinha, who covered the most ground for PSG in Europe last season (190.8 km), has shown he can grab games by the scruff of the neck against more physical opponents.

Winning the Champions League is never an easy task. It requires a mixture of showing mettle in the key moments, never giving up, and of course, having an abundance of skill.

These attributes are applicable to PSG, who have elevated themselves to new heights. They will be well aware that they are trying to follow in the footsteps of the pre-eminent Real Madrid, who between 2016 and 2018 were an immovable object.

The 2018 Real line-up, for example, featured the metronomic talent Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, while Gareth Bale came off the bench to score a brilliant overhead kick against Liverpool. 

However, PSG, according to Opta, which churned out thousands of simulations before the start of this Champions League campaign, were given just a 7.1% chance of securing a unique treble. 

PSG, undoubtedly, will be feeling the weight of history, and apart from Real, only two other teams (Bayern Munich and Ajax) have won three consecutive European Cups, underlining the size of the task facing them. 

A quick check on the top football betting operators indicates PSG have gained some traction. At CasinOK, for example, PSG are priced at 6.50 along with Bayern Munich and Arsenal to win the competition, throwing shade on Opta’s projections, which have them as fifth favourites.

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Naturally, the expectation levels will ramp up for PSG. They are a fabulous side, and they are the envy of their Champions League rivals as they have no visible flaws.

Enrique has made his side unplayable at times in the way he has continuously rotated things on the pitch to befuddle his opponents. PSG have spent billions in their dream to conquer Europe, and there is genuine chemistry in the side.

But whether a three-peat is possible remains to be seen. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on the latest lines for any market shifts.