Paris win Champions League: Meet the 2025/26 victors

Paris Saint-Germain have retained their UEFA Champions League crown, with victory on penalties against Arsenal at Budapest's Puskás Aréna making them back-to-back champions.

UEFA reporter Alex Clementson looks back at the champions' journey, profiles their tactical setup and identifies the key moments during their triumphant campaign.

Route to glory

Paris Saint-Germain's title defence started strongly with consecutive league phase victories over Atalanta, Barcelona and Leverkusen, before points were dropped in defeats to Bayern and Sporting CP and draws with Athletic Club and Newcastle.

The mixed results led to an 11th place finish in the league phase table and a knockout phase play-off, where the French side were pushed all the way by Monaco and emerged narrow 5-4 aggregate victors. The business end of the competition brought Paris back to their brilliant best, beating Chelsea 8-2 across two legs in the round of 16 and Liverpool 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

One of the competition's all-time great semi-finals against Bayern München followed, which showcased Paris' attacking prowess as they progressed to the final by a 6-5 aggregate margin. After conceding early in the final, Paris drew level through Ousmane Dembélé's second-half penalty and went on to defeat Arsenal on spot kicks.

Why they won the competition

The confidence gained from winning their first title in this competition a year ago helped carry Paris all the way to Budapest, where they proved lightning really does strike twice by becoming only the second team to successfully defend the title in the UEFA Champions League era. While the French side experienced another chequered league phase, their 8-2 aggregate victory over Chelsea in the last 16 and 4-0 aggregate defeat of Liverpool in the quarter-finals served as timely reminders of their individual brilliance, perpetual motion and bustling industry.

How they played

Luis Enrique has moulded Paris into one of the great teams of the modern era, reaffirmed with the achievement of back-to-back European titles. Marquinhos and Willian Pacho provided the defensive foundations, affording their nominal full-backs, Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi, the licence to operate as auxiliary wingers and midfielders. Vitinha and João Neves served as the metronomes in midfield, while Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were piercing presences across the front line.

Coach: Luis Enrique

The ex-Barcelona and Real Madrid player won nine trophies during a hugely successful three-year spell in charge of the Blaugrana, then coached Spain to the EURO 2020 semi-finals and the 2021 Nations League final. He scooped a domestic double in his first season in Paris before steering them to their first Champions League title in a trophy-packed 2024/25 that also included Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France, adding another league title and retaining the European crown in 2025/26.

Ousmane Dembélé's penalty took the final to extra timePA Images via Getty Images

Key player: Ousmane Dembélé

Injury prevented the former Dortmund and Barcelona forward from reaching the stellar heights of last season, but he has again delivered key goal contributions, including equalising from the penalty spot in the final to take the showpiece to extra time. The Ballon d'Or winner has been an unselfish focal point in attack, who brought the best out of his team-mates and often scored when it mattered most.

Did you know?

Paris are only the second club in the Champions League era to successfully defend their title after Real Madrid, who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018.