Paris Saint-Germain
The Contemporary Centre Back: Profiles from 2023–26
Profiles of the modern centre back from 2023–26, highlighting strengths, flaws and leadership.
Finding elite centre backs remains one of football’s toughest tasks. Across the last three seasons a clear group has emerged, each offering different traits that matter at the very top.
Cristian Romero is a defender of pure intensity. He “throws himself into tackles,” dominates aerially and has delivered trophies on big stages: a World Cup, two Copa Américas and a Europa League with Tottenham. That raw passion often produces decisive moments, but it also brings reckless fouls and needless bookings that limit his standing among the very best.
Sporting CP’s back-to-back Liga Portugal titles in 2023–24 and 2024–25 owed as much to Ousmane Diomande as to the goals of Viktor Gyökeres. Young and authoritative, Diomande leads Sporting’s back three with speed, aerial power and anticipation, though occasional positioning lapses and temper remain to be ironed out.
Dean Huijsen’s rapid rise from a loan at AS Roma to a Spain international and Real Madrid prospect highlights his calmness, technical comfort and willingness to carry the ball forward. At 6’5″ he combines presence with composure and looks like a long-term defensive investment.
Micky van de Ven’s ceiling is limited only by his fitness. When healthy his exceptional pace makes him almost impossible to beat. Similarly, Malick Thiaw adapted quickly to the Premier League after his 2025 move to Newcastle, offering athleticism, intelligence and set-piece threat in a defence ravaged by injuries.
Antonio Rüdiger and Ibrahima Konaté provide high-energy, physical leadership, while Jonathan Tah’s consistency at Leverkusen earned a long-awaited Bayern move. Gleison Bremer’s absence through an ACL tear underlined his importance to Juventus when fit.
Other profiles include Piero Hincapié’s front-foot pressing, Nico Schlotterbeck’s progressive defending at Dortmund, Manuel Akanji’s chess-like reading of the game, and Marquinhos as PSG’s organising heartbeat. Joško Gvardiol summed up his approach plainly: “I’m happy to be back to my position,” and “Just play simple, protect the goal, defend the goal.”
At Barcelona, Pau Cubarsí combines calm possession and tactical nous; at Crystal Palace Marc Guéhi provided the defensive base for historic club success; Willian Pacho’s 2025 Champions League final intervention illustrated his speed and bravery; and Virgil van Dijk remains, in form, the standard of the position: “I wouldn’t even bother, I’m just too good” was once his defiant line on the pitch.
International
Seven realistic destinations for Pep Guardiola after Manchester City
Guardiola’s next move could be Spain, PSG, Italy, England, Mexico, UAE or a sabbatical. Longer break
Pep Guardiola’s decision to leave Manchester City after a decade will force a recalculation across the game. His time at the Etihad has seen City dominate English soccer; the club later became the first in England to win four league titles in a row, and Guardiola’s 2022–23 treble matched Manchester United’s 1998–99 success.
This season, widely reported to be his last before City appoint former assistant coach and ex-Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, Guardiola has already delivered a domestic cup double. It could become a domestic treble if they can snatch the Premier League title from Arsenal.
Guardiola has previously spoken of a desire to manage a national team. “In our lives we have dreams of what we’d like to do in the future, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Guardiola said at the time. “I would like to play a World Cup and a European Championship. I would like to live that situation. When I see the World Cup, I think I would like to be there. I had just one chance to do it as a player [in 1994]. In eight, 12, 14 years maybe it could happen. It’s just a dream I have as a manager and a person. Maybe it happens, maybe it doesn’t.” He was more cautious in 2024: “What I’m not going to do is leave Manchester City and go to another country. I wouldn’t have the energy to do so.” When asked specifically about Spain eight years ago he said he thought it was “not going to happen,” so that option remains uncertain.
Club and national options line up differently. Paris Saint-Germain could be possible if Luis Enrique moves on; Enrique has ended PSG’s Champions League hoodoo and Guardiola would have the chance to become the first manager to win the European Cup with three clubs, having already won it with two alongside Enrique, Jupp Heynckes, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Ernst Happel, José Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.
Spain would be the most obvious national role given his playing history of 47 caps and captaining Spain to Olympic gold in 1992. Italy presents another attractive project after missing a third straight World Cup in 2026; Guardiola also played for Brescia and Roma. England is plausible in the longer term while Thomas Tuchel’s contract runs to after Euro 2028. Mexico, where El Tri have endured seven round-of-16 exits in the last eight tournaments and have not reached a quarterfinal in 40 years, is another option; Javier Aguirre is currently in his third spell. The United Arab Emirates could offer a developmental brief: the country has not reached a World Cup since 1990 and missed chances to qualify for 2026 against Qatar and Iraq.
Finally, Guardiola has shown he values time away from the game. When burnt out at Barcelona he took a year-long sabbatical living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and said he loved having a relatively normal life away from Europe’s spotlight.
Barcelona
Who Has Won the Most League Titles in Europe’s Big Five?
Five players have reached 13 league titles across Europe’s top five leagues; Lewandowski joined them
Winning a title in one of Europe’s top five leagues is rare. Even rarer is the company of players who have accumulated double-digit league winners’ medals across the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
Only five players in European history have reached a total of 13 league titles, with Robert Lewandowski the latest to join that group. The Polish striker won La Liga for a third time with Barcelona in 2025–26, adding to his eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich and two more Meisterschalen with Borussia Dortmund.
Two former Bayern teammates, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller, complete the group who each have 13 league crowns. Müller and Neuer won all 13 of their league titles with the Bavarian giants. Kingsley Coman also sits on 13: he collected nine Bundesliga crowns with Bayern, alongside two Ligue 1 titles with Paris Saint-Germain and two Serie A triumphs with Juventus. Ryan Giggs provides English representation in the 13-title list, having won 13 Premier League titles during his remarkable 21-year spell with Manchester United.
Three players have reached 12 league titles. Lionel Messi won 10 La Liga titles with Barcelona before adding two Ligue 1 crowns with PSG. Paco Gento is listed on 12 titles for Real Madrid. David Alaba lifted 10 Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich before adding two La Liga triumphs with Real Madrid.
A further four players have won 11 league titles across Europe’s top tiers. Those names include Thiago Alcântara (Barcelona, Bayern Munich), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, PSG), Arjen Robben (Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich) and Paul Scholes.
This tally highlights how a small group of players have combined longevity and success at dominant clubs to assemble exceptional league records across Europe’s five leading competitions.
Arsenal
How Arsenal and PSG Arrive at the 2025–26 Champions League Final: A Head-to-Head Summary
Arsenal v PSG: complete head-to-head record covering the 1994 tie and 2024-25 meetings before final.
The 2025–26 Champions League final will bring Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain together once more. It will be the fourth meeting between the two clubs in the last two years and the eighth official encounter in their history.
Their first competitive tie came during the 1993–94 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup semifinals. The opening leg finished level and Arsenal won the second leg 1–0 to advance. The north London club went on to lift that competition, which remains their last European title.
The most recent sequence of meetings occurred across the 2024–25 campaign. The sides first met in the inaugural Champions League league phase on Oct. 1, 2024 at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal won 2–0, with first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. Then-PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had a difficult evening and PSG managed only an xG of 0.40. Ousmane Dembélé was internally suspended by Luis Enrique and did not travel to London.
The tie returned in the Champions League semifinals. Arsenal arrived at the first leg confident after dethroning Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, but the contest at the Emirates changed early. Four minutes in, Dembélé scored from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia assist; Kvaratskhelia had joined PSG during the 2025 winter window. PSG dominated the first half and Donnarumma produced five saves to preserve the 1–0 advantage for the trip to Paris.
Arsenal pushed for a comeback in the Parc des Princes but PSG were clinical in the second leg. Fabián Ruiz scored inside the opening 30 minutes to double PSG’s aggregate lead. Vitinha missed a second-half penalty and three minutes later Achraf Hakimi made it 3–0 on aggregate. Bukayo Saka pulled one back in the 76th minute but PSG progressed. Donnarumma again impressed with three saves, including a notable stop to deny a Saka effort.
PSG advanced to the final for only the second time and later defeated Inter Milan 5–0 to win the club’s first Champions League title.
Why England’s Right-Back Options Are Thin Heading Into the 2026 World Cup
Late McBurnie strike settles a stormy Championship play-off and sends Hull back to the top flight
