Paris Saint-Germain advances to the Champions League final – thanks to the club’s successful Iberian connection

Jubilant, the sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain approached his coach, then enthusiastically slapped him on the chest. Late Wednesday evening, PSG celebrated reaching the Champions League final for the second time in its history on the Parc des Princes pitch, and the scene between the two was also significant because of their nationalities: A Portuguese, sporting director Luis Campos, congratulated a Spaniard, Luis Enrique.

Together, they established a successful Iberian connection at the French football club owned by a Qatari sports holding company. Fittingly, in the 2-1 semi-final second leg against Arsenal, Spanish midfielder Fabián Ruiz scored first, countering England's strong start with a brilliant half-volley. Then, the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, born and raised in Spain, sealed the victory as a right-back from a central attacking position. Earlier, Portuguese Vitinha had carelessly missed a penalty, while his compatriot and midfield partner João Neves was omnipresent in directing the Paris club's play.

Anyone who doesn't speak Spanish will have a tough time at PSG. "Castellano" is the lingua franca in the dressing room; Luis Enrique speaks nothing else at his press conferences. And even Hakimi, who has been with the club for four years and is a national player for Francophone Morocco, prefers to express himself that way. But the dominance of the Spanish idiom has also characterized the club during the era of superstars Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappé. What has changed: PSG now also plays in Spanish.

"Eleven players who defend and eleven who attack," is how Luis Enrique describes his approach. It sounds banal, but it wasn't possible in the era of Neymar and Mbappé – some players were more equal than others back then. The stars defended less and rarely participated in pressing.

Only since the departure of Mbappé, the last superstar, last summer, has Luis Enrique been able to truly implement the collective spirit. Intense pressing and quick passing, the keys to the Spanish football ethos, only work perfectly when all players are constantly on the move.

The current PSG midfield is the best example of this. Due to the astonishing heroics of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, again against Arsenal, and the breakthrough of Ousmane Dembélé , who was initially rested on Wednesday due to a thigh injury, it sometimes goes unnoticed. But Vitinha and João Neves, not only with their small, agile stature, are reminiscent of midfield greats from our neighboring country such as Xavi, Iniesta, or Pedri; at their best, they also demonstrate a similarly confident handling of the ball and space.

Meanwhile, Ruiz, ironically, had a harder time convincing his compatriot. The lanky, 6'3" player is more of an Iberian type, more of an all-rounder between the penalty areas than a short-passing virtuoso. Before the 2022 World Cup, he was dropped by then-Spain national coach Luis Enrique, and at PSG, the coach initially considered Ruiz surplus to requirements.

But the coach, known for his stubbornness, was persuaded by Ruiz's outstanding performance in Spain's European champions under his successor, Luis de la Fuente. Against Arsenal, Ruiz gave his country the next small milestone: Following goals from Barcelona players Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Eric García, and Dani Olmo, his game-changing strike on Wednesday evening meant that five players from one nation had scored in the Champions League semifinals for the first time.

And as if to further heighten the homage to the continent's currently dominant football culture, dialectics in Spanish were also on display at the Parc des Princes: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, a Basque, claimed that "the better team lost this round, that's what I say, and that's what they (the PSG players, ed.) told me too."

Luis Enrique, from the same northern coast but further west in Asturias, countered that such an admission certainly didn't come from him. "Arteta is a good friend, but I don't agree." PSG suffered more than ever in the early stages, he added. "But we deserved to advance."

So now he is in his second Champions League final after 2020 (0-1 against FC Bayern), the club with a lot of money, but in which Qatar is now pursuing a new, sustainable strategy.

Campos and Enrique have assembled an outrageously young team (average age 23.7 years). A team devoid of sulking stars , with only the self-confident coach occasionally allowed to indulge in rhetorical vanity. A team that, despite its continued enormous financial arrogance, is enjoying widespread sympathy for the first time in France. And one that inspires its own fans with its team spirit and passion like no other before. Around the Parc des Princes, supporters celebrated until late into the night.

"Luis Enrique is doing an incredible job, he's a genius," Hakimi added. The fact that the coach doesn't speak French doesn't bother anyone anymore. PSG now communicates primarily through its football. "Todo bien," in other words.