PSG on the brink of greatness in the Champions League

PARIS (AP):

The Champions League, European club football's  most important trophy, is at stake when Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal meet in Budapest on Saturday. For PSG and Luis Enrique, it doesn’t end there.

On the line for the defending champions and their serial-winning Spanish coach is the chance to stake their claim to be considered the greatest team of this era.

“I arrived at the club thinking, ‘My objective is to make history,’ and we have indeed made history,” Luis Enrique said. “We want to keep writing the story because we believe there’s still more there for us to achieve.”

PSG are already in the conversation when it comes to judging the finest teams to have won the title in the age of the Champions League. But sometimes cold, hard facts are required to drive the point home.

BACK-TO-BACK TITLES ARE RARE

Victory at Puskas Arena would see PSG become only the second team to retain the trophy since the old European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.

For many years it didn't happen even for teams regarded as generationally great.

Pep Guardiola's Barcelona won two in three years. AC Milan and Juventus each reached three consecutive finals in the '90s but only won one apiece. Ajax and Manchester United took title defencses all the way to the final only to fall at the last hurdle.

Real Madrid — winners of more European titles than any other club — finally bucked that trend, winning three in a row from 2016-18. What seemed unthinkable before and since would suddenly seem a very real target for PSG if they prevail on Saturday.

 Enrique would join Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane as a three-time Champions League winners. Not that his motivation is based on personal accolades.

PSG'S ASCENT

Having won the Champions League with Barcelona, s Enrique has produced a PSG team that has set the benchmark in Europe over the past two seasons. They combine attacking flair with an energy and tenacity that appears to be moving the sport in a new direction. A team that plays with a high risk of being exposed defensively for the ultimate reward.

At their best, PSG seem unstoppable, with last year's 5-0 rout of Inter Milan in the final the most dominant in the tournament's 70-year history.

And with a squad that has an average age of under 24, the potential is there for it to dominate for years to come.

Desire Doue, the two-goal hero of last year's final, is just 20. Tireless midfielder Joao Neves is 21.

It is plain to see in PSG's performances — such as the 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals — that this is a special team, but titles are needed to confirm its status among the greatest.

To many, Guardiola's Barcelona that won in 2009 and 2011 with Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta is the benchmark for the modern era.

To some, Luis Enrique's title-winning Barcelona team in 2015, spearheaded by Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez, was even better.

Statistically, none can match Zinedine Zidane's Madrid team of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos that won three consecutive titles. Over a five-year period,  Madrid was European champion four times.

Overall, PSG have a long way to go to come close to Madrid's 15 titles, having won the Champions League for the first time last year,. bBut they  can stake their claim to be considered the best of their era.