‘I think we are going to win everything,’ said Luis Enrique in a press conference in October 2024. All of Paris shared the one dream: win the UEFA Champions League for the very first time. On 22 January 2025, at approximately 22:00 CET, that dream never felt so distant as Manchester City led by two goals early in the second half at the Parc des Princes. But four unanswered goals and one of the competition’s great comebacks later, and that dream was alive again… And just what if, this was the year?
And from that first step, Les Rouge et Bleu began their journey to the final. They withstood the pressure of Anfield and defeated a Liverpool side that many considered unbeatable. They survived the late scare against Aston Villa in the quarter-finals and extinguished the threat of Arsenal in the semis. Having overcome three English sides, Luis Enrique’s men headed to Munich to finish the job; and they did it in style, writing the most beautiful page in the club’s history with that extraordinary 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the final. A veritable chef d’œuvre, eternally engraved into the hearts of Paris’ supporters.
Fresh from being crowned European champions, Luis Enrique’s side launched themselves into their 2025-26 campaign. A win over Tottenham on penalties in the UEFA SuperCup sent a strong message: Paris will not be abdicating without a fight. The first aim: negotiate the league phase of this new Champions League a little more serenely that last season.
The club from the French capital began in style at the Parc des Princes and a crushing 4-0 win over Atalanta, led by a superb Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Two weeks later, Les Rouge et Bleu landed a hammer blow – felt across the continent – when they defeated Barcelona 2-1 with a new-look team featuring youngsters Ibrahim Mbaye and Quentin Ndjantou. Six points from six and the champions were up and running.
Luis Enrique's side had lost none of its flair for the dramatic. The start of the season was also marked by some incredible results, such as the record 7-2 victory away to Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams were reduced to ten in the BayArena, and the Germans made the mistake of leaving too much space for the Parisian attackers, who took full advantage.
Another match, another incredible storyline, this time at the Parc des Princes. After beating Tottenham in the Super Cup, Paris faced the London club again in the highly-anticipated rematch. After a relatively quiet first half, things heated up after the break, with a Vitinha hat-trick leading the team to a 5-3 win. Even with some players missing, Paris Saint-Germain have remained a formidable outfit, as the first half of the season once again demonstrated.
13: Paris Saint-Germain won 13 Champions League matches in 2025, beating the previous record of 12 held by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich
19: Luis Enrique’s side boast the equal best attack of the 2025-26 Champions League with 19 goals scored, equal with Borussia Dortmund.
51: Paris have also obliterated the record for the most number of Champions League goals scored in a calendar year with 51! Annihilating the previous best of 38, set by Manchester United in 2002.
January 2026 will be a busy month for our heroes in Rouge et Bleu. Already qualified for the next stage of the competition, they will have the opportunity to secure a place directly in the Champions League round of 16 by finishing in the top 8 of the league phase. To ensure this, they will need two wins in their last two matches, the first away to Sporting Portugal, then at home to Newcastle.
Currently third in the table, that would mean Les Rouge et Bleu would be guaranteed to play their round of 16 and possible quarter-final second leg matches at the Parc des Princes. They could even extend this advantage to the semi-finals by finishing in one of the top two places, currently held by Arsenal and Bayern Munich. After a truly exceptional 2025, it promises to be just as an exhilarating 2026.