After presiding over PSG’s successful Champions League title defence, Luis Enrique put his name up in lights in the hall of fame for football’s greatest-ever managers.

Having previously guided Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2014-15, the Spaniard secured his third European Cup triumph as a coach. He joined an elite group of managers with three or more European Cup titles, alongside Carlo Ancelotti, who won a record five, and Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola, who have each lifted the trophy three times.

Getting one over Guardiola

By going back to back, Enrique achieved what even his good friend Guardiola — who has a case for being considered the greatest ever — could not. And he did it in some style, with his PSG team being feted for its silky interplay and bewildering movement.

Enrique’s insistence on high-intensity, high-pressure football with electrifying forwards who dribble through defences has created a rare blend — arguably even improving on Guardiola’s iconic Barcelona side which won the Champions League twice. He has expanded on the possession-based ideas of Spain’s best teams, adding risk-taking and transitional threat.

Enrique’s PSG plays structured positional football, typically a 3-1-6 in possession. But there is fluidity within this formation — it’s not the same players in the same positions at all times. The side can pull apart most defences with its clever positional interchanges.

While PSG couldn’t break Arsenal down in the final, which went to penalties, it still created several headaches for the English champion, which Enrique said was the best team in the world out of possession. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said after the game that his plan wasn’t to have just 25% of the ball, but PSG’s dominance had precipitated the situation.

“It’s not a plan to play in certain scenarios when you don’t have the ball but they force you to do that,” Arteta, who admitted to being inspired by Enrique and PSG, said. “What they are able to do with the ball, individual actions, I haven’t seen it [before]. And so even more praise to them.”

In many ways Enrique is the defining figure of this PSG project, after the megastars, Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe, departed. As Arteta said, “His fingerprints are all over this team.” Enrique arrived in Paris in 2023 promising a cultural shift rather than instant glamour. The Spaniard wanted a team in which collective sacrifice outweighed individual status, where the biggest names defended, pressed and suffered together. It’s fair to say he has succeeded.

After Mbappe left in 2024, Lucho, as he is nicknamed, said his team would become even stronger. “Having a player who moved wherever he wanted meant there were parts of the game I couldn’t control… next year, I’ll control everything. Everything,” he said. And he did.

The club still invested heavily in players, but players tailored to their manager’s plans, willing to run endlessly for the collective, and keep egos in check. “I arrived at the club thinking, ‘My objective is to make history,’ and we have indeed made history,” Enrique said. “We want to keep writing the story because we believe there’s still more there for us to achieve.”

Trophy-winning dynasty

Enrique has won 12 trophies, including three Ligue 1 titles, during his time at PSG. It is clear, from inside and outside, the effect the Asturian has had on a club built in his image, capable of creating a modern football dynasty. But while there is no doubt about Enrique’s quality, the question of his legacy, specifically the PSG chapter, is less straightforward.

The French team, built with Qatari riches, continues to face questions about ‘sportswashing’, which global campaigning network Greenpeace defines as “the act of sponsoring a sports team or event in order to distract from bad practices elsewhere. This tactic is often used by companies and governments with poor environmental or human rights records, exploiting people’s love of sports to ‘wash’ their image clean”.

Qatar Sports Investments acquired a controlling stake in PSG in 2011, just under a year after Qatar was named host for the 2022 World Cup. Critics saw both moves as a means to “mute criticism of an autocratic regime”, to take attention away from its “appalling treatment of migrant workers”, “suppression of human rights”, and “imprisonment of whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais”.

Critics also cite the financial imbalance enjoyed by state-owned teams such as PSG, Manchester City and Newcastle, arguing that it undermines fair competition. They point to the influence of PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi, the chairman of both European Football Clubs (EFC) and broadcasting company beIN, on the administration of European club football. This, they say, is the “the deeper effect of state money”.

The questions and criticism have reduced with PSG’s success on the biggest stage — critics contend that this is precisely the point of ‘sportswashing’.

Enrique’s tenure at PSG — much like Guardiola’s at City, which was marked by incredible trophy success but marred by 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations — will be accompanied by a knotty question: Can legacy be separated from the context of the circumstances in which it is built?

Fans of Enrique will hope that the answer doesn’t define him entirely. The 56-year-old has enriched the game with his progressive ideas of play, extending the limits of modern tactical thinking. While mastering his craft, he has endured a great personal tragedy and borne the loss of his young daughter with resilience and grace. Some will also highlight the fact that other managers have enjoyed Enrique’s resources at PSG but failed to produce the results he has.

Target three-peat

For his part, Enrique isn’t overly concerned about his legacy, at least publicly. After the final, he said he was “not interested” in whether he was becoming a legend or not. His next target is the Champions League three-peat. “The first one was incredible, but more than anything we had that desire to get the second,” he told broadcaster M6. “I love this club so much, and it’s not over! We’ve got the second, we’ll keep working and go get the third.”

Record 15-time winner Real Madrid won the Champions League three times (2016-2018). Before that, the last teams to complete a hat-trick were Bayern Munich and Ajax in the 1970s. Real also won it five years running, back at the competition’s inception. “We can talk about the back-to-back-to-back,” said Enrique. “We can talk about these types of objectives, our club is worthy of it, as are our supporters. We do need new players to refresh certain positions, but we’ve been champions of Europe for two years… piano piano [slowly, slowly].”

Britain’s Prince William reacts in the stands before the UEFA Europa League final match between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa on May 20, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.
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Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League semifinal, second leg, match against Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadiu, London, on May 5, 2026.
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Bayern’s Michael Olise celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side’s fourth goal during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid on April 15, 2026
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Real Madrid vs Manchester City Live Streaming, Champions League Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch© AFP

Bayern Munich needed a stoppage-time goal to see off Celtic and secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday, while AC Milan were dumped out by Feyenoord and both Club Brugge and Benfica also advanced. In Germany, Bayern were defending a 2-1 lead over Celtic in their play-off tie from last week’s first leg but the Bundesliga leaders were unable to put the tie to bed, with Harry Kane hitting the bar before half-time.

Instead it was Celtic who went ahead on the night on 63 minutes thanks to Nicolas Kuehn, the former Bayern player, who slotted low into the net after a failed attempt to win the ball by Kim Min-jae.

That meant the tie was heading for extra time, but Bayern ultimately would not need to go that far as they scored in the fourth minute of injury time.

Alphonso Davies bundled the ball in from close range to make the score 1-1 on the night and clinch the tie for six-time European champions Bayern 3-2 on aggregate.

Vincent Kompany‘s team will find out their last-16 opponents when the draw is made on Friday, but it will be either German rivals Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid.

“Of course, we always want to dominate and be much better than the opponent, especially here. But the result is always the most important thing,” Kompany told UEFA.com

It was a heartbreaking way for Celtic to go out but the Scottish champions will take heart from their performance over the two legs.

“It never looked like we were going to concede the goal that we did and sadly for us, we did. I can only take immense pride from the performance and the guys gave everything,” said Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

Earlier, seven-time European Cup winners Milan were eliminated by Feyenoord, a 1-1 draw at San Siro taking the Dutch club through 2-1 on aggregate.

Santiago Gimenez, playing against the club he left just last month, had put Milan ahead on the night from close range in the first minute to level the tie on aggregate.

However, Milan had Theo Hernandez sent off early in the second half for a second booking, and Feyenoord levelled on the night through Julian Carranza on 73 minutes.

The visitors had Givairo Read shown a red card at the end of the game after they had held on to win the tie.

They could now come back to San Siro in the next round, with Inter Milan and Arsenal their two possible opponents.

Benfica and Club Brugge through

In Lisbon, Benfica drew 3-3 at home with Monaco to win their play-off tie 4-3 on aggregate and go through to play either Barcelona or Liverpool next.

Having won 1-0 in Monaco last week, the Portuguese giants extended their aggregate lead when Kerem Akturkoglu opened the scoring on the night midway through the first half.

Monaco came roaring back with Takumi Minamino and Eliesse Ben Seghir netting either side of half-time to level the tie on aggregate.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored a penalty, his seventh goal in his last six Champions League games, to make it 2-2 on the night, only for substitute George Ilenikhena to hit back for Monaco.

However, the tie swung decisively back towards Benfica as Orkun Kokcu made it 3-3 on the night on 84 minutes.

“It was a tough night, we knew Monaco would put pressure on us from the start and we felt it, we didn’t play our best game,” Kokcu told broadcaster SportTV.

“Still, we’re happy to have progressed to the last 16. I’m happy to have contributed to the result.”

Teenage starlet Chemsdine Talbi scored twice as Club Brugge claimed a 3-1 victory away to Atalanta in Italy to win their tie 5-2 on aggregate.

Talbi’s brace was followed by a superb Ferran Jutgla strike as the Belgians built on their 2-1 win at home in last week’s first leg and advanced to a last 16 tie against either Lille or Aston Villa.

Atalanta had 29 attempts on goal but were punished on the break by the Belgians and Ademola Lookman’s reply at the start of the second half was scant consolation.

Lookman also had a penalty saved while Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi was sent off late on, as last season’s Europa League winners bowed out.

The remaining play-off second legs will take place on Wednesday, with the standout fixture seeing Real Madrid defend a 3-2 first-leg lead at home to Manchester City.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola was deliberately underestimating the English side’s hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16. European champions Madrid hold a 3-2 lead on City, who have struggled this season and are fourth in the Premier League, ahead of the play-off round second leg on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu. After thrashing Newcastle 4-0 on Saturday, Guardiola said English champions City have only a one percent chance of ousting the record 15-time European Cup winners.

“He does not truly think that, tomorrow I’ll ask him before the game — do you really think you’ve got a one percent chance?” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“He really thinks they’ve got more chance than that… we don’t think we have 99 percent chance.

“We think we have a small advantage that we have to take advantage of, and try to play the same game we set up in the first leg, which went well.”

Guardiola later admitted he also gave his team a bigger chance of progressing than he previously said.

“This time I lied to you,” said Guardiola.

“I always say what I think and you never believe me, but this time you are right…

“(After the first leg) nobody would have bet on us, the one percent was there, the truth is that the days pass, you get more excited, it’s not the best result for us to have taken but we will try to go through, for sure.”

Ancelotti confirmed defender Antonio Rudiger was fit to start for the holders after injury but Lucas Vazquez would only be ready for the bench.

City attackers Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish were able to train ahead of the game after injury issues and Guardiola said it was “good news” they had been able to travel to the Spanish capital.

Leave refs ‘in peace’

Ancelotti reiterated his frustration with Spanish refereeing, following some controversial decisions which went against his side in recent La Liga matches.

The Italian said he was more comfortable with refereeing in the Champions League.

“Statistics speak for themselves, in Europe there’s less controversy in this sense, there are less VAR interventions,” said Ancelotti.

“The VAR only intervenes when it’s necessary, and usually the Champions League features the best referees from each country, so the quality is very high in this sense.”

England international Jude Bellingham was sent off for dissent during Madrid’s 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday in La Liga.

Bellingham’s team-mate Federico Valverde said he did not want the midfielder to change his ways.

“What I want is players who leave their soul out on the pitch, in this case with Jude in the last game, I always want him to be like that,” Valverde told reporters.

“Jude is a player who shows character, who always wants to win, who always wants to fight.

“This time he got a red card, but I like that he’s giving everything, his spikiness… we have to stay united as a team.”

The referee who dismissed Bellingham, Jose Munuera Montero, has been subject to online abuse in recent days and according to Spanish reports is being investigated over an alleged conflict of interest with links to a sports consultancy agency.

Guardiola gave his opinion on Bellingham’s dismissal.

“The problem is not the translation, it’s the intention? You have to ask Jude what intention he had… you can insult someone with a big smile and it can be nice,” said the coach.

“Have you seen they are investigating the referee now… wow, leave them in peace.

“That’s the best thing that we can do, leave them in peace.”

Guardiola, who led City to their first Champions League triumph in 2023 said his team needed to play an almost “perfect” game to progress.

“You have to make an almost perfect game, obviously the (first leg) result is not good,” added Guardiola.

“(A) bad result is not the perfect situation, we have to attack, we have to score goals. This is the idea.”

Jude Bellingham edged Real Madrid ahead in their Champions League play-off against Manchester City, but then his week swiftly took a turn for the worse. The England international was sent off in the first half as Los Blancos dropped two points in the Spanish title race on Saturday at Osasuna. The midfielder will at least be fresh for the second leg clash with City at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, with Madrid holding a 3-2 lead in the tie after their victory at the Etihad Stadium last week.

Bellingham felt he had let his side down with his dismissal for dissent, despite insisting the referee misunderstood him, and he apologised to his team-mates.

All will be forgiven if he helps pull Madrid past Pep Guardiola’s City and into the last 16. 

“Enough said about the misunderstanding, just wanted to apologise again for leaving my team-mates in such a tough position and thank the fans for their support and understanding,” wrote Bellingham on social media.

“We’ll see each other on Wednesday, (playing) at home.”

It was his second red card for arguing with referees since arriving in Spain from Borussia Dortmund in 2023.

Despite his occasional frustration with officials, Bellingham has mostly been able to enjoy himself in Spain. 

His goals were crucial as Madrid won La Liga last season, and he helped his side claim their record-extending 15th Champions League trophy at Wembley, against his former side Dortmund.

Bellingham was previously linked with City but on arrival at Madrid said once the Spanish giants came in for him he got “goosebumps” and that his heart nearly stopped.

“I’d always been aware of the interest from England so that was pretty normal,” he said after joining.

“Money is not a thing for me. I don’t think about money at all when I make these kind of decisions. I never have and will — I play the game purely out of love…

“It wasn’t a case of other teams are bad or they weren’t good but, for me, Madrid is the greatest.”

Big game Bellingham

In his fairytale first season Bellingham scored 23 goals in 43 games across all competitions, as well as converting a penalty in the Champions League quarter-final shootout Madrid won against City.

Bellingham has often shone in Madrid’s key matches.

The 21-year-old scored vital goals in both league Clasicos last season, and in both games against Girona, who for most of the season were Madrid’s main title contenders.

In the Champions League he set up Vinicius for a goal in the final against Dortmund, as well as scoring four times in the group stage.

This season, operating in a slightly more withdrawn role following the arrival of French superstar Kylian Mbappe, he initially found it harder to find his spark in attack.

Bellingham failed to find the net in his first 12 games, having netted double figures by the same time last season.

However coach Carlo Ancelotti backed the midfielder to come good and praised his hard work in a defensive capacity.

Eventually Bellingham’s nose for goal returned and he has scored 10 times in his last 20 games, as well as providing six assists.

The most recent of those strikes came in the 92nd minute against City to snatch Madrid the advantage.

The days since have been tumultuous but by the time the Champions League anthem is ringing out at the Bernabeu, Bellingham’s mind will be focused on getting the job done.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his side have just a one percent chance of progress to the Champions League last 16 against Real Madrid on Wednesday but the English champions’ new recruits could offer a lifeline. City blew a late 2-1 lead in the first leg of the play-off tie last week at home to lose 3-2 to the holders. That collapse was part of a wider trend this season as Guardiola’s ageing squad have struggled to last the pace, particularly when the intensity is turned up on Champions League nights.

As a consequence, City broke with their usual transfer policy to spend big in January, bringing in Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez for fees totalling 170 million pounds ($214 million).

However, none of them started the first leg against Madrid. Marmoush was the only one to even make an appearance for the final few minutes off the bench, as Gonzalez and Khusanov were unused substitutes and Reis was not registered in City’s European squad.

Guardiola may now regret that decision after Marmoush, Gonzalez and Khusanov all played pivotal roles in arguably City’s best performance of the season on Saturday when Newcastle were blown away 4-0 at the Etihad.

Marmoush hogged the headlines thanks to his first-half hat-trick, finally offering City another potent scoring threat to compliment Erling Haaland.

Khusanov recovered from his nightmare Premier League debut against Chelsea last month when he gave away a goal inside three minutes and could have been sent-off shortly afterwards.

This time the Uzbek showed why City paid Lens a reported 40 million euros (33 million pounds, $42 million) for his services.

The 20-year-old’s pace helped sniff out the danger posed by Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and could be what the visitors need to combat the threat of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in the Santiago Bernabeu.

Guardiola, though, reserved special praise for the impact of Gonzalez in bringing the City midfield the stability they have lacked since Ballon d’Or winner Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September.

The Barcelona academy graduate seems certain to start on his return to Spain with his manager already hailing the 23-year-old as a “mini Rodri.”

Gonzalez a game changer

“The balance of the team looks much, much better already with Gonzalez in it,” said former City defender Micah Richards.

“City have got players who can score goals and hurt Real, but he brings some stability behind them, which they will need if they are to manage the game in Madrid.

“Do they have more chance of beating Real with him in the starting 11? Without a doubt.”

Yet, even at their best during the golden years of Guardiola’s reign in Manchester, City have often found the might of Madrid too tough a nut to crack in the Champions League.

This is the fourth consecutive season the sides have met, with a 5-1 aggregate rout en route to winning the competition for the first time in 2023 City’s only success.

Three years ago they seemed to be cruising into the Paris final with a two-goal lead heading into stoppage time of the second leg before Rodrygo’s quickfire double sent the tie to extra-time and ultimately Madrid to a 14th European crown.

Last year it was penalties that got the Spanish giants over the line after City dominated the majority of two score draws in the quarter-finals.

Guardiola conceded the prospect of his side finding their best again when they need it most is unlikely.

“This season the reality is we have been miles, miles away. If you tell me that we would perform like today (against Newcastle) and finish 22nd in the Champions League (table), of course not. We would finish higher,” said the former Barcelona boss.

“The results have been poor this season. Just for one game I’m not going to change my opinion.

“If you ask anybody before that game, we have one percent but as much as we have a chance we will try. That’s for sure.”

However, a timely injection of fresh blood does give hope that a miracle in Madrid is possible.

Vincent Kompany saluted Bayern Munich’s composure and ignored the “crazy” atmosphere at Celtic to seize control of the Champions League play-off round with a 2-1 win in the first leg on Wednesday. Bayern boss Kompany was concerned about the potential for Celtic to be fuelled by the raucous 60,000 sell-out crowd in Glasgow. But the Bundesliga leaders produced a mature display that took the sting out of the Celtic roar for long periods. Michael Olise’s thunderous drive into the roof of the net from 15 yards put Bayern ahead on the stroke of half-time.

England captain Harry Kane doubled Bayern’s lead with a close-range volley from Joshua Kimmich‘s corner four minutes after the interval.

At that point Bayern were in complete command, but they eased off in the closing stages and Daizen Maeda’s 79th minute header gave Celtic a glimmer of hope.

Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer had to make a good save from Alistair Johnston to ensure the visitors held onto their lead in a frantic finale.

Kompany was relieved to hear the final whistle, but insisted he was delighted with the way Bayern inflicted Celtic’s first home defeat in 33 games in all competitions.

“It’s cliche to say, but it’s the first half of the game. Overall, it’s a really great result,” he said.

“I know this place, I know it transcends performance sometimes. We dealt really well with the atmosphere for long spells before it could go too crazy.

“The last 10 minutes we had to defend and we did that well. Of course, you can feel in those moments, if the game comes alive it is a special place.

“The fans haven’t seen many losses here, especially in Europe, so we appreciate the importance of the game and the victory.”

‘One more shot’

Bayern will be favourites to advance to the last 16 when Celtic visit Munich for the second leg on February 18.

But before then, Kompany’s men face a crucial clash on Saturday with champions Bayer Leverkusen, who are eight points behind Bayern in the title race.

“We’re also pretty decent at home so we’ll look to play on that as well,” Kompany said.

“We have an important game on Saturday, so we’ll switch our focus to that.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers took heart from the way his side recovered from their ultra-cautious start.

Rodgers is confident the Scottish Premiership leaders can rattle Bayern in the return as they look to reach the last 16 for the first time since 2012-13.

“At 2-1, Bayern Munich are hanging on. That’s what we can take from it. We’ve got one more shot,” Rodgers said.

“It’s a new level for a lot of the players, they’ve done absolutely great. Let’s go and have no regrets and see where it takes us.

“By the end, Bayern are happy for the final whistle. We’ve shown we can play football and be a threat. We’re still right in the tie.”

Celtic treated Bayern with too much respect in the first half, sitting deep for long spells rather than taking the fight to their star-studded opponents.

Rodgers admitted it was only when Celtic went two goals behind that they finally threw caution to the wind.

“The last 25 minutes, we started to press the game and you see what it brought — aggression. Our football starts to come alive and then we get the goal,” he said.

“With Bayern’s quality and the number of goals they can score, sometimes these can be out of sight but that wasn’t the case at all.

“We were always going to be the underdog. But what must never happen is, you must never be broken. We kept fighting and got a reward for that.”