THE SUPERTEAM DOESN’T WORK IN EUROPE, EITHER, WHERE PARIS RIOTED FOR PSG
Messi, Mbappe and Neymar couldn’t win together, but Luis Enrique built a team with passion and smarts, giving Saint-Germain a Champions League title while a city was blitzed by at least 300 arrests
Don’t bother explaining, without mace, the savage conduct of lunatic fans during celebrations. What haven’t we seen? In Los Angeles, I was locked inside the Lakers’ arena for hours until rioters had burned a police car, scratching “PIG” on both sides. A mangled Detroit was compared to Beirut. And remember Charles Barkley reminding Phoenix teammates to save Michael Jordan’s town from mayhem?
“Chicago, you can take all that plywood off the windows," a jubilant Barkley said after an NBA Finals win. “There won't be any riots tonight.”
So when Paris celebrated the first Champions League title of Saint-Germain, in a city where a famous tower glittered in pride and thousands of buildings were plunderable in 20 arrondissements, how many arrests might happen? As I write, at least 300 fools were booked in the upheaval Saturday night and Sunday morning. On the Champs-Elysees, a renowned avenue, at least 30 were busted when they crashed into a shoe store, while a water cannon was employed to protect the Place de l’Étoile. Cars were ablaze near the Parc des Princes stadium, where 49,000 fans had rumbled as the 5-0 victory over Inter Milan was shown on TV screens.
Even in Munich, where the final took place, players asked people to behave. “Let’s celebrate without breaking everything in Paris,” forward Ousmane Dembele said. Little did he know that two people would die and more than 500 would be arrested. Makes you wonder about sports and life, doesn’t it?
Not long ago, I sat in the same stadium and watched Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar play for PSG. I took photos, sent them to American friends and wondered if this was the greatest soccer colossus ever. They were the ultimate superteam, gathered by Qatari owners who paid almost 500 million euros. Wouldn’t this be a way to elevate Paris, underserved in global soccer, into the realm of Madrid, Milan, Liverpool, Turin, Barcelona and Manchester?
It didn’t happen. The megastars didn’t get along well and broke up, sounding like the Brooklyn Nets of Europe. Since then, Messi won a World Cup with Argentina and scored two goals for Inter Miami on the same night in Major League Soccer. Mbappe remains a force, signing a five-year deal with Real Madrid. Neymar moved to Santos in Brazil.
Imagine what they were thinking as the Arc de Triomphe was safeguarded?
This was a triumph for manager Luis Enrique, who built an eminent champion with joy and wisdom. He lost his 9-year-old daughter to bone cancer. The players and fans rallied for Xana. “It was very emotional," Enrique said afterward. “It was beautiful to think that the supporters thought about me and my family. I think about her every day. She is with our family and I feel her presence even when we are losing. We carry her forever in our hearts. I think she would run among us here. It's a wonderful thought.”
Achraf Hakimi knew where to point his laudatory finger. “We have made history, we have written our names in the history of this club,” he said. “For a long time this club deserved it, we are very happy. We have created a great family. He (Enrique) is the man who has changed everything at PSG. Since he came here, he has changed the way football is seen. He is a loyal man. He deserves it more than anyone else.”
A veteran defender, Marquinhos, agreed. “So many players who have come through here who deserved this and didn't succeed. Now we're here and we're bringing it home,” he said. “I’m thinking of all the supporters who have been with us, those at the Parc des Princes and those around the world. I love you, enjoy it and we're going to enjoy it here. This is the best day of my life.”
Among the new standouts is forward Desire Doue, 19, from Angers. He was the first teen to score twice in a final in 63 years. “It is wonderful, it is magical, we are rewriting the history of this club and French football,” Doue said. “I have no words. That was just incredible for me, simply incredible. I have no words, sorry.”
Paris unites millions, locals and tourists. We saw it last summer during the Olympic Games. Imagine the scene at Roland-Garros, where the tennis crowd resumed the French Open despite the noise. Novak Djokovic played a night match and heard roars. “I could hear when they scored. It was way too many times that they were celebrating,” he said of fans at nearby Parc des Princes. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is a lot of goals from Paris! What’s going on?’ It’s 5-0. Quite a result, to be honest. But I think we are in for a long celebration and probably not much sleep tonight. It’s a fun night to be in Paris, I guess.”
Through the tear gas, through the flares and through the break-ins, you couldn’t help but think about Messi, Mbappe and Neymar. The Brooklyn Nets? Check out the Oklahoma City Thunder, the next NBA champions, who are winning raves from ex-Net Kevin Durant. The superteam doesn’t work in America or Europe.
“What I can say is, ‘Thank you, Paris.’ ’’ Doue said. “We did it.”
The Eiffel Tower is safe. The River Seine, probably not.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.