Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, President of Paris Saint-Germain, gave an interview to TalkSPORT. He talked about the celebrations for the Champions League 2024-2025, won last Saturday against Inter Milan (5-0), the progress of the project, what remains to be done, and a discussion with coach Luis Enrique before the final, during which a small (almost positive) problem to be resolved in the squad was discussed.
Al-Khelaïfi “it was very strong emotionally.”
“What’s it like to win the biggest trophy in European soccer?
Honestly, there’s no better feeling than that. These are incredible emotions. Lifting this trophy that we’ve dreamed of for 14 years, then celebrating together in Munich and again in Paris, those are different emotions. Seeing the fans was incredible. Seeing all those people in the street, it was very emotional..
Al-Khelaïfi “It was very important to go through these stages in order to get to today.”
You said you wanted to move in a different direction after Messi and Neymar. Is that what you wanted: more youth and training?
Yes, but before I say anything more about this team, of which I’m very proud, I’d like to thank all the players. Javier Pastore, Thiago Silva, Zlatan, Cavani, Motta, Di Maria, all these players are part of the project. They’ve done important things. Like Neymar, Mbappé and Messi. It was very important to go through these stages to get to where we are today.
I don’t know if we did everything right, but it was important to take these steps. Today, we’ve built a team with young talent. We have stars. Dembélé was voted best player of the Champions League, Doué the best player and there are 7 Parisians in the team-type. We have great players.
But the stars play for the team, not the team for the stars. That’s the difference today. We have young, hungry talents, ready to die for the club. Everyone saw it, with the 5-0. We have the best coach in the world.
Al-Khelaïfi “We have to stay humble, keep up the work, work even harder.”
What does this victory mean for the project?
It’s proof that we’re heading in the right direction. We’ve worked very hard, we’ve suffered, we’ve lost some important games. But we’ve always believed in our project. But soccer moves very fast.
We have to stay humble, keep working, and work even harder. I said to the players, “We’ve celebrated, now you’re off to the national team, then we’ll have to refocus on this club”. There’s the Club World Cup, the biggest competition in the world.
How do you feel about the celebrations?
I’d like it to go in slow motion, there’s so much going on. It’s an honor to have been at the Elysée Palace to spend time with President Emmanuel Macron and hear his speech.
Al-Khelaïfi “He told me ‘the team is at 200%, it’s too much’.”
Has the team been the star of this Champions League run?
Absolutely. That’s what I told the players: to be proud, to celebrate. But also not to forget that there’s still a long way to go, a great career to accomplish. We mustn’t destroy what’s to come. We must remain serious, hard-working and hungry. They’re exceptional players, but we still have to work. We want to win the Champions League again. I’m confident. We have a great coach.
During the week before the Champions League final, I was happy, but I was also a bit scared. The coach said to me “I’m worried”, and I asked why. He replied “the team is at 200%, it’s too much”. I said it was motivation and the coach told me he had to calm them down. The players were hungry. They know the way to win, it’s not easy. We can’t be sure we’ll win, but I’m sure we’ll fight hard to win.
