Luis Enrique had been here before. His team... had not. The UEFA Champions League final was a novelty to every member of his Paris Saint-Germain starting XI, barring Marquinhos, who still carried the pain of the 0-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 UCL final.
Billions had been spent, the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic all recruited in the hopes of winning club football's ultimate prize. And yet, PSG were left without the silverware (and recognition) they most craved. Mbappe's departure to Real Madrid had seen their stock drop, an afterthought in most people's minds when discussing potential UCL winners ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Luis Enrique knew all about being an afterthought - despite his treble-winning achievements with Barcelona in the 2014-15 season, much of that success was attributed to his frontline of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Unfairly, he was seen as little more than someone who just named those three in his lineup and won football games. Credit was never afforded a man who had statistically better seasons (scored more, conceded fewer, and won more) than Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona side.
A spell with Spain after his departure from Barcelona hadn't enhanced his reputation either, although PSG were hoping for a bit of his star-management expertise when hiring him with Mbappe still at the club. A viral video of Enrique using Michael Jordan's defence on an NBA court as a template for how Mbappe could display his leadership qualities was all that emerged from that partnership.
PSG needed a reboot, so did Luis Enrique. It didn't start well - losses to Bayern and Arsenal in the UCL group stage meant PSG barely squeaked through to the knockouts. Quietly however, Enrique was building a new PSG filled to the brim with exciting young talents. One that swatted aside the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, one that reached the UEFA Champions League final.
Luis Enrique had been here before. His team... were about to announce themselves in the most Luis Enrique fashion themselves.
Inter were set up to absorb PSG's early blows, but such was the incisiveness of PSG's play under Enrique that even Simone Inzaghi's grizzled veterans were left punch-drunk.
It all began with Vitinha in the middle of the park, Enrique's midfield general dictating play and the tempo of the game. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was in space down the left wing, and without wasting time, PSG's Portuguese midfielder swept it wide to his Georgian counterpart. Kvaratskhelia kept the tempo up, bisecting Denzel Dumfries and Benjamin Pavard with a toe poked pass to Fabian Ruiz, before continuing on into the box.
Ruiz, on the left edge of the box, eschewed Kvaratskhelia's run and played it back out to Vitinha. Eight Inter defenders packed the box - and with the Portuguese midfielder in space, Inzaghi's backline took a step up to begin pressing him and block his passing lanes. Desire Doue, all of 19 years, made a sneaky run off the back of the Inter backline, and Vitinha found him with a pin-point pass that outfoxed a defence that had been the best in the competition.
Doue had the space to curl one into the opposite far corner, but with Federico Dimarco scrambling over to block his shot, the French teenager paused and played a pass square through the narrowest of gaps. There stood Achraf Hakimi, and in front of him an empty net - one touch and Hakimi had the ball in the net. PSG had the lead, and only 12 minutes in, had struck a killing blow.
Blur your eyes and that was a goal straight from Enrique's Barca. Kvaratskhelia's Neymar-esque dribbling pushing backlines back; Vitinha's pass as incisive as that of an Andres Iniesta or Ivan Rakitic; any one of Messi or Suarez peeling off the backline and selling a dummy before passing it on to a Dani Alvez in a centre-forward's position, just as Doue did for Hakimi.
Yes, PSG may have one of the highest wage-bills in the world and have spent close to a billion in assembling this squad, but as they know all too well, that isn't enough to guarantee a UCL victory. The recipe needed Enrique's special sauce, and given enough time and patience, the Spaniard cooked up a Michelin star meal.
5-0 it was at the end of the night, the biggest margin of victory in a UEFA Champions League final, and up stepped Marquinhos to lift ol' big ears. The European Cup now had a new name inscribed on it.
Luis Enrique had been here before, and with his blend of brave, attacking football, had dragged PSG atop Europe's footballing pantheon. For that, he takes our UCL Moment of the Week.