Luis Enrique – the mentor who has transformed PSG from luxury into legacy

Newly crowned champions of Europe have found something rare – a head coach who doesn’t just tolerate pressure, but seems to thrive on it

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique during the club's victory celebrations in Paris. Reuters

Luis Enrique paced the touchline in Munich as if walking a familiar path. On a night laden with expectation, he remained composed, arms folded, gaze steely, his Paris Saint-Germain side dismantling Inter Milan with a cruelty only matched by its brilliance.

By the end of 90 minutes, the scoreline read 5-0, magnified on the Allianz Arena scoreboard for all to see, engrained in the memory of all those that had witnessed it. It was the kind of score that doesn’t just win trophies and ruin careers, but etches names into history.

For all the money and ambition that has powered PSG’s rise since the 2011 takeover by Qatar Sports Investments, they have often been a gilded idea rather than a galvanised team. Managers have come and gone. Players, too. But in Enrique they have found something rare – a head coach who doesn’t just tolerate pressure, but seems to thrive on it.

He did not flinch when Kylian Mbappe left last summer for Real Madrid, did not beg PSG's owners to keep Lionel Messi, a player whose own brilliant past is inextricably linked to the Spaniard's, upon his arrival in Paris just under two years ago. He didn't protest when Neymar was jettisoned and the club pivoted from superstar signings to investment in youth. He welcomed it.

What he built was not just a team, but an ideal. Vitinha became a midfield maestro. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, plucked from Napoli, sliced through defences like a winger of a bygone era. And then there was Desire Doue – still a teenager – whose two goals and an assist in the final will remain preserved in football’s collective memory. This wasn’t just a win. It was a reckoning.

And at the centre of it all was a coach who has made a habit of silencing doubters, a serial winner who in his spare time runs ultra-marathons, whose principles are grounded in discipline and the unwavering belief that, above all, the team comes first.

“Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies and Paris had never won the Champions League,” Enrique said. “We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy.”

Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos lifts the trophy after their 5-0 Uefa Champions League final win over Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31, 2025. EPA

PSG manager Luis Enrique celebrates with the trophy after their stunning win over Inter Milan. AP

PSG goalscorers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi with the trophy. PA

PSG celebrate after the French club became European champions for the first time in their history. EPA

Desire Doue scores Paris Saint-Germain's third goal. Getty Images

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia celebrates after scoring PSG's fourth goal in Munich. AP

Substitute Senny Mayulu scores PSG's fifth goal in the 86th minute. Getty Images

Desire Doue celebrates scoring his second and PSG's third goal against Inter Milan in Munich. Getty Images

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia slots home PSG's fourth goal in the 73rd minute. Reuters

PSG's Desire Doue after scoring his team's second goal in Munich. EPA

Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer is wrong-footed by Desire Doue's deflected shot that put PSG two up in Munich. Reuters

PSG manager Luis Enrique, left, celebrates after Desire Doue put his team 2-0 ahead. Getty Images

Desire Doue celebrates after scoring his PSG's second goal at the Allianz Arena. AP

PSG fans set off flares in the stands during the Champions League final. PA

Desire Doue scores PSG's second goal - via a deflection off Federico Dimarco (not in picture) - in the 20th minute. AP

Inter manager Simone Inzaghi during the final. EPA

Achraf Hakimi scores finishes past Inter Milan keeper Yann Sommer. Reuters

Achraf Hakimi celebrates with teammate Ousmane Dembele after putting PSG 1-0 up in the 12th minute. Getty Images

Achraf Hakimi side foots past Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer to put PSG into an early lead. Getty Images

PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi refuses to celebrate in front of the fans of his former club Inter. Getty Images

It is tempting to view Enrique purely through the prism of his achievements. The trophies – 16 in all, including three this season – demand admiration. But to understand his work is to understand the depth of his conviction. After stepping away from Spain’s national team to care for his daughter Xana – who tragically passed away from cancer age nine – Enrique returned to football not diminished, but even more determined. He does not play to the gallery, does not seek approval or redemption. He only coaches – intensely, with the focus of a man who has already had the worst thing that could happen to him happen to him.

In the delirium that followed the final whistle, PSG’s ultras unveiled a tifo that said everything words could not. A depiction of Enrique and Xana planting a club flag into the field. The symbolism was impossible to miss – Enrique had done the same thing with his daughter after guiding Barcelona to the 2015 Champions League title on their way to a treble. Emotional in the extreme, it also symbolised the green shoots of optimism that the club can expect more nights like this in years to come.

It was a full-circle moment in a career defined by evolution. The firebrand of the Roma years, the calm conductor of Barcelona’s golden symphony, the resolute leader who steered Spain through chaos, and now, the mentor who transformed PSG from luxury into legacy. It also cemented Enrique's place in the pantheon of greats, becoming only the second coach, alongside Pep Guardiola, to win trebles at two clubs.

Some coaches collect medals. A few, like Enrique, collect moments. This was one Paris will not forget in a hurry.