PSG provide perfect illusion with a model of beauty in soft-power project | Barney Ronay

Re-enthroned Champions League-winning club should have always been this good but Qatar’s propaganda project is finally listening to an elite manager

Paris est mythique.

There was nothing understated, no obvious shades of faux humilité about the headline in L’Équipe after Paris Saint-Germain had been https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/30/paris-saint-germain-retain-champions-league-as-arsenal-dream-dashed-in-shootout">re-enthroned as Champions League winners on Saturday night.

Mythical.

Storied.

Ultimate.

Yeah.

But are they, though?

In fairness it would be disappointingly un-Parisian not to consider your champion team the champions of all champions in the moment of victory.

Give the people what they want.

Play the hits.

Nobody needs a polite Parisian waiter.

Nobody wants to see an unstylish Parisian estate agent who has taken absolutely no care of his hair, or a Parisian bistro that doesn’t think it’s the VIP boarding lounge for the last arc leaving planet Earth.

Hmm.

Maybe there’s somewhere else more dismissive around the corner.