PSG join 7 teams that won the Champions League after selling their star player
While plenty of people tipped PSG to fall off following the departure of Kylian Mbappe, Luis Enrique’s side stands a great chance of winning their first-ever Champions League.
If they do manage to go all the way and win the Champions League this season, they won’t be the first club to do so after selling their star player.
This phenomenon tends to happen more often than you’d think and we’ve gathered seven examples of it in modern times.
Real Madrid 2024
Following the departure of Karim Benzema in 2023, Real Madrid began the 2023–24 campaign with an unconventional forward line.
The Frenchman practically carried the club to Champions League glory in 2022 and their chances of winning it again seemed fairly slim without their superstar striker.
However, Jude Bellingham enjoyed an outstanding debut season at the Santiago Bernabeu and scored 23 goals from midfield to compensate for Benzema’s loss.
Joselu also played a starring role in their Champions League campaign as Madrid won their 15th UCL title against Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea 2021
After selling Eden Hazard, Chelsea fans probably didn’t expect to win the Champions League just a couple of years later.
Following Frank Lampard’s dismissal in January 2021, Thomas Tuchel took over, and the rest is history.
Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner were Chelsea’s most prolific players that season, with 12 goals each across all competitions.
On paper, it was a squad that had no business winning the Champions League, but thanks to Tuchel’s game management and a solid backline, they managed to defy the odds.
Hazard himself won the Champions League a year later with Madrid, although he was by no means a key player for the Spanish side.
Liverpool 2019
Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool in January 2018 and his former side won the Champions League just over one year later.
While Liverpool fans were hurt by his departure at the time, the money they received for the Brazilian was invested wisely.
To rub salt in the wounds, Liverpool got the better of Barcelona and Coutinho in the semi-final thanks to their emphatic 4-0 comeback at Anfield.
The Brazilian did eventually win the Champions League with Bayern Munich, but we’d imagine that it would’ve felt that bit more special had he won it with the Reds.
Inter Milan 2010
After scoring 66 goals in 117 appearances, Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Inter at the start of the 2009-10 campaign to join Barcelona.
Samuel Eto’o then moved in the opposite direction and helped the Italian side win the treble during his first season at the club.
It soon became apparent that Ibrahimovic wasn’t the right fit for Barcelona and to make matters worse, he lost against his former side in the UCL semi-final.
Jose Mourinho masterminded Inter’s triumph in 2010 and Ibrahimovic never managed to get his hands on the Champions League trophy throughout his entire career.
Barcelona 2009
After selling Ronaldinho in the summer of 2008, Barcelona enjoyed a vastly improved campaign in 2008-09.
It was Pep Guardiola’s first season at the club and he made radical changes in order to restructure the balance of the squad.
Along with Ronaldinho, the likes of Deco and Gianluca Zambrotta were also sold during that summer.
The result? Barcelona went on to win the treble and sweep everyone aside with their tiki-taka style.
READ: Ronaldinho got bored at Barcelona so invented a physics-defying pass
AC Milan 2007
Andriy Shevchenko scored 28 goals during his final season with Milan and he became one of the most expensive players of all time when he left to join Chelsea in 2006.
While Chelsea thought they’d got a great deal at the time, it’s safe to say that Milan were the overall winners of that transaction.
The Ukrainian Ballon d’Or winner struggled to find his best form in England and to make matters worse, his former side won the Champions League straight after selling him.
Liverpool 2005
After losing Michael Owen to Real Madrid, Liverpool fans probably weren’t expecting anything special to happen in 2004-05.
Rafael Benitez’s side struggled to find much consistency in the league and only finished fifth after selling their star striker.
However, the stars aligned in Europe and the Reds won arguably the most iconic Champions League final of all time, coming back from three goals behind against AC Milan.
Owen’s move to Real Madrid didn’t exactly work out either as he only lasted one year in Spain before he was sent packing.
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