Some find success sweet but fleeting, others spend years building their way to the top, and then there are those whose lasting glory turns into a dynasty.
After tearing apart Manchester City for large periods of their 4-2 Champions League victory on Wednesday, Paris St-Germain looks set to join this final bracket.
The back-to-back European champions ran through City with astonishing ease to take a 3-0 half-time lead, and still managed to score another despite a spirited second-half fightback from the Premier League leaders.
Having knocked out Inter Milan 5-0 in the 2025 final before beating Arsenal on penalties in last season’s showpiece match, Luis Enrique’s side are aiming to win a third consecutive European crown.
They would be the fifth team to do so since 1956, and only the second in the Champions League era.
“This PSG team is on a different level,” Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live at half-time.
“They just ran all over Manchester City, who weren’t able to connect passes. It was a real blow for Man City.”
To mark PSG’s latest display of offensive excellence, we take a look at how the Parisians compare to clubs who enjoyed the most dominant eras of European competition.
Some will say that football existed before the start of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1955. My apologies to Stan Cullis’ “world champion” Wolves team and to the first Viennese heavyweights of the Mitropa Cup.
However, this debate over the top 10 is centered on winning European football’s biggest prize.
Paris St-Germain 2025-present
OK, straight to the current champions, because this is a dynasty in the making.
Paris St-Germain are hoping to enter that category and the 4-2 victory over Manchester City on Wednesday reminded the rest of Europe why they should not bet against becoming continental champions for a third consecutive season.
PSG had a poor start to the season – it always does, right? – but has an uncanny ability to shift gears when it counts.
In Manchester, Luis Enrique’s team was at its best. A merciless mix of silky flicks and fluid off-the-ball movement that saw a dazed City taken several frames behind.
“Unbelievable. PSG, what a team,” Sutton said.
“The PSG press, I don’t think there is another team that presses with its intensity and its ferocity.
“It’s (City) one of the best teams in the Premier League that is absolutely roasting. It’s them (PSG) who are having a slow start to the season. Heaven help everyone.”
The Parisians have been France’s dominant force since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments 15 years ago, but it took a change of approach for the holy grail of continental success to arrive.
“It’s the end of glitter,” President Nasser Al-Khelaifi declared after years of lavish spending, ushering in the era of “flashy, bling-bling.”
Instead, Enrique arrived in 2023 with the intention of building a cohesive team. There was still significant investment, but in younger players who could be shaped by his philosophy and discipline while still giving them room to flourish.
The result was two scintillating Champions League triumphs.
Gn sports
