Champions League: Why Paris St-Germain pose ultimate test for Arsenal in Budapest final

The Spanish coaches are the brains of this new PSG, built from the ashes of the superstar era that saw Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar as the central parts of a dysfunctional, ego-driven team that never resembled a team.

Luis Enrique, who also won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015, ordered his players to park their egos at the door or pushed aside those who did not.

In their place is the perfect combination of brilliant individual skills combined with a ferocious work ethic and defensive toughness that will make them a formidable challenge for Arsenal.

And the leader is Marquinhos.

The Brazilian centre-half arrived at PSG from Roma in 2013 and survived Luis Enrique’s big-name selection because the coach was smart enough to know a consummate professional and world-class defender when he saw one.

He formed an excellent partnership with the formidable Willian Pacho, who played a key role in keeping Kane under cover until the England captain’s strike in the dying seconds.

Kvaratskhelia and Dembele combined to create the game’s defining moment, while 20-year-old Desire Doue, the young face of the new PSG, tormented Vincent Kompany’s side by coming close on multiple occasions in the second half.

But what held it all together was Marquinhos, who at 31 is still unrivaled and has an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, exuding calm authority.

To complete the picture, PSG’s midfield of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves is the well-oiled engine room that ties it all together.

Ruiz’s pass on the way to Dembele’s goal was a thing of beauty, but then he went back to doing the defensive dirty work that Luis Enrique demanded and his team were more than happy to do.