Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid last summer, right after the club won its 15th Champions League title, sent the message that from now on, this team wouldn’t even need to step onto the pitch to keep winning trophies effortlessly. However, the quarterfinal loss to Arsenal only further supports Luis Enrique’s theory.

“I still think we’re better without Mbappé”

For many PSG fans, Kylian Mbappé’s departure felt like a real tragedy—especially because a signing of similar ‘status’ didn’t materialize… until Kvaratskhelia arrived in the winter transfer window. Still, although the start of the Champions League campaign was rough, Luis Enrique managed to build a unit that stopped being just a constellation of individuals… and became a real team.

This idea, as Luis Enrique pointed out, was confirmed after the knockout round against Liverpool, in which PSG eliminated what many at the time considered the biggest favorite to win the Champions League: “The numbers speak for themselves. I still think we’re better in attack and defense without Mbappé. I wouldn’t have agreed to coach PSG with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé together,” Luis Enrique said at a press conference after the match at Anfield.

PSG makes history in the Champions League without Mbappé

Not without suffering at Villa Park, PSG managed to eliminate Aston Villa in the quarterfinals… and ended up making history. On one hand, PSG surpassed Olympique de Marseille as the Ligue 1 team with the most appearances (9) in a European semifinal. More importantly, though, highlighting where PSG’s project stands now, Luis Enrique became the first coach to reach the Champions League semifinals twice… and both times consecutively.

Everyone was expecting a semifinal reunion between Mbappé and PSG. However, for the first time in Carlo Ancelotti’s six seasons on the bench at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid failed to reach the Champions League semifinals… in the very year Mbappé joined the project. Obviously, even if he struggled to show up in the big moments, he’s far from being solely to blame. Still, this whole scenario only further proves Luis Enrique’s theory about Mbappé and PSG.