From Zidane's miracle to Enrique's empire: how the two managers met on Europe's throne | Goal.com

Published on 12 Aug 2026 | Reading time: 3 minutes

Salzburg staged another football spectacle, and Luis Enrique used it to prove he deals in neither coincidence nor fleeting brilliance. The Spaniard has claimed a fresh title with French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris Saint-Germain are European Super Cup champions for the second season running, beating England's Aston Villa 2-1 at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, Austria, on Wednesday evening.

The win hands Enrique a second Super Cup with the club. It cements successive Parisian dominance on the continent and places his name alongside Europe's coaching greats, chief among them Frenchman Zinedine Zidane.

This is no ordinary addition to the Parc des Princes trophy cabinet. It is an official declaration of an exceptional era, one that echoes Madrid's dominance under Zidane between 2016 and 2018, when he won three straight Champions League titles along with two consecutive European Super Cups.

How Enrique built this glory is where the real success lies. When Zidane took the reins at Real Madrid in January 2016, succeeding Rafa Benitez, he inherited a fully assembled squad packed with stars: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

Zidane's genius back then lay in managing those stars, imposing psychological calm and putting the team first. The successes followed.

Contrast that with Enrique. He took over Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2023 amid the ruins of the galactico project, after the end of the era of names like Lionel Messi and Neymar da Silva, and later Kylian Mbappe.

Rather than fleeing from responsibility, Enrique seized on the departure of the goal stars to build a rigid collective system based on high pressing and total tactical commitment. Paris went from a team leaning on individual solutions to a merciless machine.

In the modern history of European football, Zidane made history by leading Real Madrid to Champions League glory in three consecutive editions: 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Enrique arrived to revive that miracle in France, leading Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League glory in two straight editions, 2025 and 2026, after a tactical epic in which he knocked out the continent's giants, the last of them Arsenal in the final.

Motivating a team that has reached the continental summit twice in a row is no simple task. Getting them to attack a European Super Cup at the start of the season with full force is harder still.

This is where the strong leadership of the coaches stands out. Zidane instilled a culture of comebacks and relentless challenge in his players until the very last minute. Paris Saint-Germain under Enrique have shown the same toughness, the same exceptional ability to steer through final showdowns and handle the pressures of the big matches.

Adding the European Super Cup tonight does more than match the Parisian achievements. It carries Enrique into the historic stronghold of Europe's legendary coaches.

He had already reached a third Champions League title of his coaching career, with Barcelona in 2015 and Paris in 2025 and 2026, matching the tally of Zinedine Zidane, Pep Guardiola and Bob Paisley.

Enrique also joined the list of coaches to retain both the European Super Cup and Champions League titles in successive years, alongside Arrigo Sacchi and Zidane.

Calm and control under pressure mark the deepest similarity between the two men. Zidane handled the media with a serenity that absorbed every crisis. Enrique deals with the difficult French press through a firm personality that refuses to manoeuvre.

Between Zidane's clever handling of star egos and his tactical balance, and Enrique's wholesale revolution in building a team without huge names, the Spaniard proved tonight that Paris's dominance is no passing flash. It is a sustainable footballing empire that has rooted a winning culture, confirming that Zizou no longer sings alone in the sky of the old continent.

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