SEE THAT THING SHINING UP THERE? THAT'S PSG
2025 has certainly been a historic year for Paris Saint-Germain, but the capital club needed to dig deep last night to take home the first-ever FIFA Intercontinental Cup that a French side had won, with Matvey Safonov's four saves in the penalty shootout proving to be the difference.
In front of the Paris end, Safonov's heroics earned his side its sixth trophy of 2025 – a unique achievement when placed in the context of French football, of course – but it gets even better as, with an all-time total of five international titles now under their belts (including the 1995–1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup as well as this year's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup), Les Parisiens have claimed at least three more honours of this kind than any other French team.
Finally, yesterday's victory saw Paris become the second European top-flight side to win six titles in a single calendar year (following FC Barcelona's sextuple in 2009), making for figures that will forever be etched into the history of the beautiful game.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
Regardless of the players on the pitch, this team's heart is always the same. After a crazy year full of successes and, by extension, matches, the Paris squad hasn't been spared by injuries, but Luis Enrique's team of staff does things the right way, with everyone pulling in the same direction and wanting to stay true to their principles.
It's this philosophy that has allowed Les Rouge et Bleu to shine. When one player hasn't been able to play, another one has replaced him and kept the same level of desire, and this has been one of the key symbols of Paris Saint-Germain's success over the last few months.
As a true midfield maestro, Vitinha put in an incredible shift once again yesterday and earned himself the title of Player of the Tournament in the process. For the 36th time across all competitions in 2025, Paris's no. 17 enjoyed at least 100 touches of the ball – 122 touches in this game, to be precise – while no other player in Europe's top five leagues has been able to beat this total (only Joshua Kimmich sits level with Vitinha on 36 games with at least 100 touches to his name this year).
Meanwhile, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has now scored three goals in his last four PSG appearances across all competitions as well as seven on the international stage in 2025, with only Ousmane Dembélé boasting a higher tally in this respect (11).
Last but not least, Matvey Safonov has become the first Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper to keep out four penalties in a single shootout in the 21st century.
A few different numbers come out about a few different players after every game, but here, it's the entire Paris squad that has emerged victorious.
¡VIVA LUIS ENRIQUE!
Luis Enrique often says that the credit should go to the players because they're the ones who do the work on the pitch. Not many people would want to argue with him on that, but some congratulations do seem to be in order for the Paris boss.
The Spaniard has now won his ninth trophy with the capital club, meaning that he ranks below only Laurent Blanc (15) and Albert Batteux (11) on the list of French football's most successful professional coaches. Enrique also lifted his sixth trophy of 2025 with Les Parisiens last night, which is not only the highest such total for the head coach of a French club in a single calendar year but also his own highest total with a single club, having taken home five trophies with Barça in 2015.
So, yes, the players may do a lot of the hard graft, but Enrique's name will forever sit alongside Paris's list of honours in 2025, whether he likes it or not!