They became more successful after losing their star player
Enrique’s Team Resembles Mourinho’s Inter: PSG Reaches UCL Final Without Mbappe
Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League final in their first season after Kylian Mbappe’s departure. But they are not the only team to achieve greater success after losing their main star.
Football is an unpredictable sport. In this game, gathering stars, even the biggest stars in the world, does not guarantee success. Paris Saint-Germain is a clear example of this statement. A team that lost its main and all-around star but immediately redefined itself and became even more successful without him.
Kylian Mbappe ended his years of brilliance at PSG in the summer of 2024 and joined Real Madrid. In his absence, PSG’s attack faced a huge gap. But Mbappe’s departure marked the end of a strategy at PSG. With Luis Enrique’s influence, the club abandoned team-building around big stars and sought to build a cohesive and starless team.
In their first season without Mbappe, they reached the Champions League final and may win the title for the first time in PSG’s history. Meanwhile, Real Madrid with Kylian Mbappe was eliminated early from the competition.
But PSG is not the first team in football history to lose its main star and immediately become more successful.
Atletico Madrid 2014-2015
Radamel Falcao was the big star of Atletico Madrid in those years. He was the most popular player and the main leader of the team, leading Atletico to win the Europa League. But Falcao left Atletico in 2013 and moved to Monaco. Atletico was eliminated in the Champions League round of 16 against Rubin Kazan in Falcao’s last season and finished third in La Liga, 24 points behind champion Barcelona.
Everyone thought Atletico would fall apart without Falcao, but under Diego Simeone, they had a brilliant season, won La Liga, and reached the Champions League final. Atletico had not been able to celebrate a La Liga title since 1996.
Inter 2010
Barcelona signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan in 2009. Zlatan was the main star and most important player of Inter at that time. Many thought Inter would not be able to compete for years without Zlatan, but with the money from his sale, Inter signed Samuel Eto’o and Wesley Sneijder, and the following season, under Jose Mourinho, they won the treble and eliminated Barcelona with Zlatan.
