Paris Saint-Germain are one game away from etching their name in European football history, a feat that would make them only the second French club to conquer the Champions League since Marseille’s somewhat mythical triumph in 1993. Their semi-final victory over Arsenal, a team that had improbably slain Real Madrid en route, speaks to a collective strength and tactical nous that has propelled them to the Istanbul showpiece against Inter Milan.

And yet, as the champagne chills and the Parisian faithful dream of finally lifting that elusive big-eared trophy, a peculiar undercurrent of scrutiny surrounds a figure who, for so long, defined this PSG era: Kylian Mbappé.

Mbappé’s statistical output has been undeniably stellar. He departed Paris as the club’s all-time leading scorer, a serial Ligue 1 champion, and a player whose raw pace and devastating finishing have terrorized defenses across the continent.  His individual brilliance has been a constant, a highlight reel waiting to happen in every match he played.  

But the narrative, as it often does in the unforgiving world of elite football, is being rewritten in his absence. Mbappé’s much-heralded move to Real Madrid last summer, a transfer long anticipated and finally realized, has so far yielded… well, not a Champions League trophy. In fact, his Madrid side, despite his goals and flashes of brilliance, were the ones humbled by Arsenal in the very same competition PSG now stand on the cusp of winning.

This creates a fascinating, and perhaps uncomfortable, juxtaposition. PSG, liberated from the gravitational pull of Mbappé’s individual demands and perhaps emboldened by a newfound collective spirit. 

“We miss Kylian, he is one of the best in the world and I wish him all the best because he is a great friend,” Goalkeeper Donnarumma told Prime Video after the semi-finals match. “The team is very united, we’re doing well together. We (Italy) won a European Championship like this, it makes all the difference in every team.” 

As Gianluigi Donnarumma himself alluded to, PSG has navigated a challenging Champions League campaign with a unity that occasionally felt absent during the Mbappé years.

Consider Arsenal’s journey. They weren’t supposed to be here, deep in the Champions League semi-finals. A team that had clawed its way back from years of mediocrity, fueled by Arteta’s meticulous rebuild and a vibrant young core, showed genuine grit and tactical flexibility to overcome the reigning European champions. 

Their spirited showing against PSG, even with a makeshift striker in Mikel Merino deputizing for injured key forwards, highlighted a team on the ascent, knocking loudly on the door of Europe’s elite. Their inability to quite breach that threshold – undone by Donnarumma’s heroics and PSG’s clinical moments – shouldn’t diminish their progress, but it does underscore the ruthlessness required at this level.

Now, with PSG potentially on the verge of a historic triumph without their former talisman, the questions surrounding Mbappé’s impact on the team dynamic in Paris will only intensify. Did the sheer force of his personality and the constant focus on his individual achievements inadvertently stifle the collective growth of the team? Was the tactical framework, often geared towards maximizing his explosive talent, ultimately a limiting factor in their pursuit of European glory?

It’s a harsh assessment, especially for a player who poured so much into the club and delivered countless moments of magic. But the brutal reality of top-level football often demands such cold analysis. If PSG, under a new dynamic, achieve what they couldn’t with Mbappé at the helm – the ultimate prize in European club football – the narrative will inevitably shift.

The historical context adds another layer of intrigue. France’s long wait for a second Champions League crown has been a persistent talking point. Marseille’s controversial victory three decades ago remains a solitary beacon. For PSG to finally join them, and to do so in the immediate aftermath of Mbappé’s departure, would be a seismic event, a potential turning point in the club’s history and perhaps, in a less direct way, in the perception of Mbappé’s legacy in Paris.

Mbappé’s time at PSG was filled with records, with domestic dominance, and with tantalizing glimpses of Champions League glory. He led them to their first final in 2020, a significant milestone. But the ultimate validation, the trophy that truly elevates a player’s and a club’s status, remained elusive.

Should PSG lift the trophy in Istanbul, the narrative won’t be about Mbappé’s stellar scoring records or his individual brilliance in a PSG shirt. It will be about the team that finally broke through, the collective that achieved what the sum of its superstar parts couldn’t. It will raise uncomfortable questions about whether the Mbappé era, for all its thrills, ultimately fell short of its European ambition, and whether, in leaving, he inadvertently cleared the path for the club to finally reach its ultimate destination.

This isn’t to diminish Mbappé’s immense talent or his contributions to PSG. But in the cold light of potential Champions League glory without him, the lingering shadow of what wasn’t during his tenure will inevitably grow longer, a complex and perhaps slightly unflattering footnote in the otherwise dazzling story of his Parisian years. The paradox of a phenomenal individual talent unable to deliver the ultimate team prize, potentially succeeded by the very team he left, is a narrative twist that is both uncomfortable, yet undeniably compelling and ironic.