Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 against Bayern Munich and qualified (5-6 on aggregate) this Wednesday at the Allianz Arena for the second leg of their 2025-2026 Champions League semi-final (final on May 30 against Arsenal). Following this qualification, journalist Daniel Riolo was full of praise for the team on RMC Sport.
Riolo: “I’ve been saying it for quite a few weeks now, I’m convinced that PSG is even stronger than last year.”
“PSG was already making history, and they’re even more so now with a second consecutive final. It’s simply astounding. I’ve been saying it for quite a few weeks now, I’m convinced that PSG is even stronger than last year. They’ve shown it, and this final confirms it. Yes, PSG is even stronger than last year despite all the doubts some may have had this season. What’s happened this year is frankly incredible.”
Riolo: “They have certainty, a confidence that has been with them for months.”
“We’re in a golden age for PSG, clearly. I’ve been seeing for a while that this team was better than last year. They have certainty, a confidence that has been with them for months. They prepared for their season in an original way, where they skipped the first six months because they had…” They played a lot the previous season with the Club World Cup. People were a little worried and wondered how they would be able to maintain that level.
Riolo: “In this run, they suffered much less than last year.”
But the preparation was so meticulously planned, so scientifically executed, that PSG reached a kind of peak in February. After February, we saw a team even more effective than last year’s. In this run, they suffered much less than last year; there wasn’t that match like against Aston Villa where it was a nail-biter right up to the final minutes.”
For Daniel Riolo, this qualification isn’t just about another European final: it primarily confirms the change in stature of Paris Saint-Germain. The journalist emphasizes a key idea: that of a team that has become even stronger than the previous season, despite the questions that arose during a less clear first half of the campaign.
In his view, PSG has perfectly managed its rise to prominence, with a preparation designed to peak at the crucial moments of the season. This observation lends even more weight to the Parisian club’s performance, which he describes as more controlled, more assured, and less anxiety-inducing than last year’s. Riolo thus sees a club enjoying a rare period of success, buoyed by collective certainty and sustained confidence.
This perspective is all the more striking because it’s not based solely on the emotion of qualifying. Riolo highlights a structural progression: Paris is no longer just winning important matches; it now gives the impression of knowing where it’s going. And in PSG’s recent history, that’s not exactly a minor detail.
