The Japan Times - In Luis Enrique's new-look PSG, the coach is the superstar

In transforming a team not always taken seriously by their rivals into arguably the most feared side on the continent, PSG coach Luis Enrique has also revived his own reputation after being sacked from his previous job.

Now 55, Luis Enrique was appointed in July 2023, just after Lionel Messi left the French side following an underwhelming two-year spell. Neymar then departed later that summer.

The former Barcelona boss was dismissed by Spain six months earlier after their disappointing exit from the 2022 World Cup to Morocco in the last 16.

The PSG job appeared something of a poisoned chalice, with his predecessors unable to deliver the success in the Champions League that the club's Qatari owners desired.

The team was handicapped by the presence of Neymar, Messi and Kylian Mbappe all together, three great forwards who naturally did not much care for defending.

With the first two gone and Mbappe's eventual departure inevitable, Luis Enrique understood he would be allowed time to mould a team in his shape.

"We are in the middle of building a new identity, our own style and way of playing, and a new culture," PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said early last season, adding that winning the Champions League was no longer "something we are obsessed with".

Last year they still reached the semi-finals in Europe before losing to Borussia Dortmund -- with a domestic league and cup double also in the bag, it was a promising start for the new coach.

The problem was that Mbappe, with his contract expiring, was on the way out. Yet the manager kept insisting PSG would be better without their all-time top scorer.

"If everything goes well I'm convinced we'll have a much better team than this year," Luis Enrique said in February 2024.

It was hard to believe at the time, even less so after PSG opted last summer not to sign a new striker.

Luis Enrique insists on playing a style of football characterised by dominating possession as well as high-octane pressing.

But his critics have accused him of being stubborn and rigidly sticking to one way of playing, even when it is not working.

"Luis Enrique had a very clear game plan, and when plan A didn't work, there was no plan B," Spain's Iago Aspas said of his former coach.

- Better without Mbappe -

Earlier this season PSG were dominating games but not scoring, and Luis Enrique's refusal to play with a traditional centre-forward appeared mistaken.

When one interviewer questioned his tactics following a defeat to Arsenal, the coach's response seemed arrogant and unpleasant.

"I have no intention of explaining my tactics to you. You wouldn't understand," he said.

A defeat against Bayern Munich in November left PSG in danger of going out of the Champions League early, but the turnaround since has been remarkable.

His energetic young side suffocated Manchester City before they saw off Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal in a triumphant tour of England.

The decision to play without a recognised number nine? No problem. Instead he turned winger Ousmane Dembele into a lethal finisher with 33 goals this season.

PSG really are better without Mbappe, and Luis Enrique deserves huge credit for that.

Now he is one game away from joining an elite group of coaches to have won the Champions League twice.

His last success was in 2015 when he led a Barcelona side spearheaded by Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to the title.

"Getting to a Champions League final is always difficult. All players and coaches dream of it, but not everyone gets there," said the Asturian.

"The job I did at Barca was extraordinary. Even if people said it was easy to win the Champions League with that team, it wasn't."

After three years at Barcelona he had two spells in charge of Spain, taking a time out in 2019 when his daughter Xana died of bone cancer.

Now he believes the experience of those years has helped him become a better coach in Paris.

"I have more experience now. I remember before my first final I was really stressed," he said.

"This time I hope to transmit a message of calm. Otherwise I think I have learnt from my mistakes and that has helped me get where I am now."

Y.Hara--JT