The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

 It’s been 14 years in the waiting, but yesterday (Saturday, 31st May), all those years of never-misses and agony of failure became worth it as the French champions won their maiden Champions League crown at Bayern Munich’s Allianz arena, sweeping Inter Milan aside 5-0.

Much has been made of the club’s Qatari owners and the millions spent to get to the top of the conversation in the European game. Players such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar have been some of the attacking, mouthwatering talent to walk through the Parc De Princes doors. 

Just for good measure, Edison Cavani, Marco Veratti, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, and David Beckham have worn the blue of PSG. I am sure there are names that I have missed, which emphasises the point of there being a wealth of talent on the books of PSG in years gone by. 

Do you know what they say about the past? Yes, that’s right. Don’t look too much into the past. In the most literal sense, PSG eventually decided to go out with the old and in with the new. 

Gone were the veterans such as Zlatan, Beckham, and Verratti. In came players such as Warren Zaire-Emery Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue, and yes, I can go on. Send Mayulu. No, I have not forgotten you.

In the past, PSG was full of players with overinflated fees who command such a fee on paper but not in the real world. 

When the Parisians had the dreamy front three of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi, many thought the Champions League title would be imminently coming to the Parc De Princes. 

Of course, football historians would tell you it didn’t end that way. Not only did Christophe Gaultier and Mauricio Pochettino leave, but the two managers who tried to accommodate such a front three and the strikers above also left. 

It was time to rip up the scrapbook and start again. Gone was their midfield linchpin, Verrati, and in came Vitinha. Bracola and Doue came in and excelled despite their tender age.
 
Everyone waxes lyrical about Barca’s pool of youth talent, but football fans, clearly you’re missing the rivers, nay oceans, of talented players at PSG. 

Huge appreciation surely needs to be shown to Louis Campos, the veteran of his football director/advisor role.

The 60-year-old had his work cut out in the French capital when he first arrived , but just like Campos has in other roles of similar nature, the Portuguese Campos has worked wonders in his job. 

Gone are the days of selling talented academy players like Cristopher Nkunku and Mike Maignan.

It wasn’t plain sailing this year . In fact earlier in the Champions League campaign the French side were sweating on next round qualification. A professional performance where they took the six-time Champions League winners Liverpool to penalties and won, helped Louis Enrique’s men grow leaps and bounds in the tournament.

French rivals Lille have benefitted from Louis Campos’ good work off the field. Now, it’s the turn of France’s most decorated club to smell the roses.

As impressive as this Champions League title was, PSG are more than well-equipped to challenge for further titles. 

This Paris Saint Germain team were the youngest in the competition and got better with the tournament experience. Just imagine what these boys would be like after this year’s experience under their belt.

It’s also worth mentioning that PSG’s title win has seen the surreal sequence in 2025 continue, where teams have won a trophy for the first time in their story or ended a severe trophy drought such as Newcastle United did win they beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Tuesday’s IPL cricket final will keep that tradition going when Punjab Kings and RCB compete for the IPL title.

Fancy smelling nice for the summer? Why not try amour scents and get 10% off your order;

https://amourscents.com/?ref=8jvems1i

Here at the-sports-buff.com, we have enjoyed serving you the readers. Thank you for your support and your feedback. We are aiming to grow, and we need your help.

We please need your support as we look to grow our team further and improve our site. With as little or as much as you can do to our site to grow, so it can be one of the pioneers of sports that we know it can be, we appreciate it if you could donate, as much or as little as you can.