Why PSG can finally win the Champions League despite Messi, Neymar departures

The 2023/2024 Champions League season will begin tonight with the not-so-different undertones.

After Manchester City's triumph last season, the pressure will now be on Paris Saint-Germain to replicate the success of the English side, given how much investment has been made over the years.

PSG's best performance in the 'Big Ears' trophy remains when they reached the 2020 final before losing against Bayern Munich to a Kingsley Coman strike.

Apart from that, it has been a case of so close yet so far or on other occasions, borderline embarrassments of the round of 16 exits despite the armoury at their disposal.

The French giants will head into the new Champions League season with renewed hope, hoping this will be the season they might go all the way.

When they signed Lionel Messi in 2021, alongside the four other arrivals of Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnaruma, Achraf Hakimi, and Georgino Wijnaldum, expectation was rife that they had finally assembled a team to conquer Europe.

I mean, having one of the best players in history teaming up with one of his heirs apparent and one of his closest (or not that close) challengers in previous years sounded like a recipe for success.

Only that it wasn't. It quickly became apparent that Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar could not co-exist in the same team. The defensive phases of the Ligue 1 giants would break down, given the 'Big 3' offered little to no support whenever the team was under pressure.

That might work in Ligue 1 but when facing the who's who in Europe, as they saw against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in successive years, you need a well-oiled machine - not just a collection of big superstars.

That's why Messi and Neymar leaving might be a blessing in disguise, to some extent.

In their places, the Qatar-backed club moved in for Ousmane Dembele, Marco Asensio, Goncalo Ramos, and Randal Kolo Muani. There was also a change in management, with former Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique taking over from Christophe Galtier.

In the new additions, Enrique has potent attackers who can work track back and help out when push comes to shove. Of course, their ceilings and potential are nothing compared to what Messi and Neymar had/has but at times, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard enough.

The midfield has also been another sore concern for PSG over the years. Marco Veratti, despite his higher ratings, failed to find the spark to transition play and bring life into the 'Big Three.' This speaks partly to why Enrique did away with him.

Manuel Ugarte was brought in early from Sporting Lisbon. The Uruguayan can break play, disrupt opposition attacks, and initiate his own team's offence. And from a financial point of view, signing the 22-year-old for just roughly €52 million in a summer holding midfielders were going for over €100mil was good business.