San Mamés, ready to host one of the most important matches in recent years, in which Athletic Club will face the current European champion, Paris Saint-Germain, in the match corresponding to the sixth day of the Champions League League Phase. With three games left in the phase, Ernesto Valverde’s lions are in 27th place in the standings, three places and two points away from the qualifying cutoff towards the round of 32. Despite the obvious difficulty involved, spirits in Bilbao are sky-high following Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Atlético de Madrid and the lions hope to give the San Mamés fans another night to remember.
Pre-match statements
Review the press conference between Ernesto Valverde and Yuri Berchiche prior to Athletic Club-PSG.
The rival
Paris Saint-Germain was founded in 1970 after the merger between Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain. The club achieved immediate success, being promoted to Ligue 1 after winning the second division in the 1970/71 season.
Paris FC split in 1972, remaining in the top flight, while PSG were relegated to the third division. However, PSG soon recovered and returned to the first division in 1974, the same year it moved to the 48,000-seat Parc des Princes.
This rise marked the beginning of a golden era that lasted two decades. The Parisians won two consecutive French Cups in 1981/82 and 1982/83, before winning their first Ligue 1 title in 1985/86. After a slight decline in the late 1980s, PSG returned to glory in the 1990s, establishing itself as one of the dominant forces in French football.
Between 1992 and 1998, partly under the direction of former Athletic Club coach Luis Fernández, who coached the team in the 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons, Les Parisiens won three French Cups (1992/93, 1994/95, 1997/98), two League Cups (1994/95, 1997/98), a Ligue 1 (1993-94) and a European Cup Winners’ Cup (1995/96).
Despite having talented players such as Ronaldinho, Nicolas Anelka, Laurent Robert, Mikel Arteta, Pauleta, Ludovic Giuly and Mauricio Pochettino, among many others, the 2000s were a period of irregularity on and off the field. However, the Parisian team managed to win three French Cups (2003/04, 2005/06 and 2009/10).
After years of false hopes and results below expectations, PSG was acquired by the Qatari investment group Qatar Sports Investment in June 2011. The change of ownership turned the Parisian team into one of the richest in the world and the impact was immediate.
Now able to attract coaches of the caliber of Carlo Ancelotti, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique, along with world-class players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar Jr, Ángel Di María, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Lionel Messi, PSG have since enjoyed an era of almost unprecedented domestic and European success.
Since the acquisition of Qatari ownership, Les Parisiens have won 11 Ligue 1 titles, eight French Cups, six League Cups and last season’s Champions League, after defeating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final and winning the first UCL trophy in their history. In addition, they beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup and were runners-up in the 2019/20 UCL final, which they lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich.
Coach: Luis Enrique
A familiar name in LaLiga, the Gijón native replaced Christophe Galtier as PSG coach in July 2023.
Luis Enrique, one of the most successful coaches of his generation, began his career as a coach at Barcelona B in 2008. After three years in Catalonia, he moved to AS Roma, but only lasted one season in the Italian capital.
He then spent the 2013/14 season at RC Celta before joining Barça. During a very successful three-year period, the Blaugrana team won the treble in 2014/15 (LaLiga, Cup and Champions League), the double in 2015/16 (LaLiga and Cup) and the Cup in 2016/17.
In 2018, Luis Enrique became Spain’s coach, leading the team to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
The Spaniard is now in his third season at PSG. He won the national treble in his first season and the continental treble in his second, becoming the second coach in history to achieve this feat twice and the first to do so for a French club.
Luis Enrique also had a very successful career as a player, a versatile footballer capable of covering many positions, he trained in the Real Sporting de Gijón youth academy and then went on to play for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona before retiring in 2004. His record includes three Leagues (1994/95, 1997/98, 1998/99), three Copas del Rey (1992/93, 1996/97, 1997/98), a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1996/97) and a UEFA Super Cup (1997).
Featured players:
Although in the early days of Qatar’s ownership it focused on million-dollar signings, Luis Enrique’s time at the helm of the club has meant a shift towards combining international talents with local footballers.
The foreign squad includes: goalkeepers Matvey Safonov (Russia) and Renato Marin (Italy); defenders Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Lucas Beraldo and Marquinhos (Brazil), Illia Zabarnyi (Ukraine) and Nuno Mendes (Portugal); midfielders Fabián Ruiz (Spain), Lee Kang-in (South Korea), Joao Neves and Vitinha (Portugal); forwards Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal) and Ibrahim Mbaye (born in France but international with Senegal).
The emphasis on fielding local stars has seen many French players come to prominence in recent years, for example: Lucas Chevalier (goalkeeper), Lucas Hernández (defence), Senny Mayulu and Warren Zaïre-Emery (midfielders), and Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé (forwards).
Ballon d’Or winner Dembélé was PSG’s top scorer last season, with 35 goals in 53 games, including eight in the Champions League. Vitinha is the competition’s top scorer so far this year, with four goals in five games.
Latest results:
Although they are not yet as dominant on the national level as in other campaigns, the Parisians seem ready for another successful season. They are second in Ligue 1, one point behind the leader, RC Lens, with 33 points after 10 wins, three draws and two losses. Their last league match was a 5-0 home win against Rennes.
They have had a relatively comfortable start in defending their Champions League title. Luis Enrique’s team has recorded victories against Atalanta (4-0), FC Barcelona (1-2), Bayer Leverkusen (2-7) and Tottenham (5-3). The only setback so far was the 1-2 defeat against Bayern Munich, with 10 players for much of the match, in November.
Interesting facts:
- The “Saint-Germain” part of the club’s name comes from the nearby town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where Stade Saint-Germain was founded in 1904.
- The city is the birthplace of King Louis XIV, so the club’s crest includes a white fleur-de-lys and previously included the “cradle of Louis XIV”.
- PSG have never been relegated from Ligue 1 since their promotion to the competition in the 1974/75 season.
- It has a long history of collaboration with the Parisian fashion world. Famed designer Daniel Hechter was president of the club from 1974 to 1978 and his red, blue and white shirt has remained part of the club’s identity ever since.
- In addition to the men’s and women’s football teams, PSG also has handball, judo and esports teams. Previously it also had boxing and rugby sections.
- Their main rival is Olympique de Marseille and this derby is known as Le Classique.
Athletic-PSG connections
This will be the fifth meeting between both clubs. It is the third match in official competition and the second time that PSG plays in San Mamés. We have met twice in friendlies: a 1-1 draw in the 1998/99 pre-season and a 0-2 defeat in Bayonne in March 2003.
Then we were rivals in the group stage of the 2011/12 Europa League. The Zurigorri beat the Parisians 2-0 in Bilbao thanks to goals from Igor Gabilondo and Markel Susaeta, but the French team won 4-2 at the Parc de Princes in the second leg.
Current Athletic left-back Yuri Berchiche spent the 2017/18 season at PSG, where he helped the club win the domestic treble under Basque coach Unai Emery, before joining Athletic the following season.
Former Athletic midfielder Ander Herrera spent three seasons in the French capital, from 2019/20 to 2021/22, before returning to Bilbao in August 2022.
The other great connection between Athletic and PSG is Luis Fernández. The Frenchman born in Tarifa enjoyed very satisfactory periods at the helm of both clubs. A PSG player in the 1980s, a time in which he won a French league and two French Cups, he also won the French Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in his first stage as coach, in addition to the 2001 Intertoto Cup, when he returned to lead the team between 2000 and 2003.
He was Athletic’s coach from 1996 to 2000 and is well remembered at the club for leading it to a historic second place in LaLiga during the 1997/98 season, a feat that allowed us to qualify for the Champions League for the fourth time in our history up to that point.
Matchday 6 of the League Phase of the 2025/26 Champions League that faces Athletic Club and Paris Saint-Germain will be played this Wednesday, December 10, at 9:00 p.m. in San Mamés.
It can be followed through Movistar Champions League in Spain. If you watch from anywhere else in the world, here is an extensive list of television operators that offer the game.
