PSG’s latest triumph, their ninth in the last 11 campaigns, has been secured with just one match of the season remaining, and not many could have imagined a few months ago that it would take this long. Last year, the Parisians were champions with four games left. The last of PSG’s titles to be decided as late as this was in 2015, when they were crowned on the penultimate weekend of the campaign. Yet Galtier’s side have been top ever since they eviscerated Clermont 5-0 on the opening night. They are the first team ever to have topped the table all season, from the opening matchday to the last.

It seemed an inevitability that night in Auvergne that Paris would win the league again. The wonder then was whether they could go through the whole season undefeated. A week later they beat Montpellier Hérault SC 5-2, and that was followed by a 7-1 destruction of LOSC Lille. Three wins and 17 goals scored in their first three games.

PSG’s financial advantage over the rest of Ligue 1 is such that they begin every season as favourites for the title. If the Qatar-owned club are performing anywhere near their full potential, nobody domestically can live with them. When the campaign stopped in mid-November for the World Cup, Paris had won 13 and drawn two of their first 15 matches and were five points clear of Lens in second. They had scored 43 goals and conceded nine. Kylian Mbappé,  Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr had netted 30 times between them.

Galtier had proven himself as a winner at his previous clubs, most notably when he led Lille to the title – at PSG’s expense – in 2021. But he acknowledged at his unveiling that he would need to convince those who doubted his ability to coach a squad of superstars. “There will be a different approach to the way we play here. With the squad we have, you have to also play well. I will be working with real top-level players, but this is not going to be anything like what I did at my previous clubs,” he said last July.

World Cup impact

How PSG dealt with the impact of the mid-season World Cup was always going to be pivotal. Maintaining their form of the first three months of the campaign never seemed likely, even less so after a draining tournament for their superstars.

Post-Qatar has been a rocky ride for PSG and for Galtier. They needed a stoppage-time Mbappé penalty to beat RC Strasbourg Alsace in their first game back. A few days later they lost 3-1 in Lens, their unbeaten record this season ending as their lead at the top was cut to four points. That was the first of six defeats in their first 17 league games in 2023, while they were dumped out of the UEFA Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich and beaten by Marseille in the last 16 of the Coupe de France.

“This season has been unusual,” Marquinhos told L’Équipe earlier this month. “There was the World Cup with players who went a long way in the competition. We didn’t really have the time to take a break afterwards and think about other things. Lots of energy and emotion go into a World Cup. We have found things difficult since coming back to our club in terms of results and with injuries. But we have been working as hard as possible to go out and achieve our objective.”

For all the talk of crisis, before this weekend PSG had picked up as many points in 2023 as Marseille, and just one fewer than Lens. Their form in the league has still been good enough and has included a convincing win away to OM as well as a home victory over Lens. The problem is that losing in the last 16 of the Champions League for the fifth time in seven seasons left its mark. There have been few signs of joy in the team’s performances. The lack of intensity in Galtier’s team has been striking, and the coach has frequently chopped and changed his system – he wanted to play with a back three, but injuries to Presnel Kimpembe and the failure to sign a new centre-back at the start of the campaign left him short of options in central defence.

Mbappé stands out again

Messi’s impact has been night and day compared to his disappointing first season in Ligue 1, but he has declined since the World Cup and is expected to move on when his contract expires in June. Neymar  has once again been diminished by injury – his World Cup was hindered by an ankle problem and a similar problem suffered against Lille in mid-February ended his season.

New signings like Fabián Ruiz, Carlos Soler, Renato Sanches and Hugo Ekitiké all struggled to make an impact, while Vitinha tailed away after a bright start in the capital. It was not a vintage season for Marquinhos or Marco Verratti either. Luckily Mbappé continues to bang in the goals, turning on the style at key moments. Now PSG’s all-time top scorer, he had 40 in 41 games in all competitions this season before Saturday’s game in Strasbourg and is on course to end another campaign as Ligue 1’s leading marksman.

PSG will now make Mbappé even more the focal point as they rebuild again for next season. Players will leave and new faces will arrive. It remains to be seen if Galtier is still on the bench. Whoever is coach will be charged with the task of finally delivering that elusive Champions League glory, getting PSG playing with the intensity and joy that have been lacking at times. Winning another Ligue 1 title will also be an obligation for the club that is now the most successful in French top-flight history.

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