Why PSG’s Netflix documentary may not happen

In the wake of Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League triumph last season, the club’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, revealed that there would be a behind-the-scenes documentary on the club, which would be available to view on Netflix. However, L’Équipe now understands that the series may never see the light of day.

The first episodes of the series were meant to have already been released. Filming started last season, just before the crucial match against Manchester City at the end of January. However, the project is now completely on stand-by. The images were shot by a production company, Words + Pictures, but it is the entrance of Netflix, who wanted scenes of the dressing room and from the pitch, which started to slow progress.

Dolores Emile, the director of the series, wanted certain access, wanting to go into more intimate stories with the players. The idea was to tell a more personal story rather than simply a sporting one, but PSG did not want to facilitate such access. Netflix have confirmed to L’Équipe that initial talks have “slowed due to calendar restraints and unavailability”.

Netflix themselves never officially announced the series on PSG , as if they had sensed that there could be problems down the line. Whilst L’Équipe understands that the whole project is simply on stand-by, PSG have also evoked a calendar problem. “We are considering the next steps by first and foremost being focused on the upcoming sporting challenges,” the Ligue 1 side told the publication.

However, L’Équipe understands that the reality is more complex and that there has not necessarily been goodwill. There was a fear of the series becoming a “non-descript promotional clip”. Nasser Al-Khelaifi has pushed the project, although there is reticence from others within the club, who fear that the daily routine could be disturbed. Multiple players have also declined Netflix’s approaches as they don’t want to be a simple foil.

That was the case for the Movistar documentary, “No Tenéis Ni P*** Idea” (You have no f*cking idea), that followed Luis Enrique at PSG during the 2023/24 season. The players, in that documentary, were simply a supporting cast for the PSG manager.

And some players and agents accuse Luis Enrique of stealing the spotlight. One producer told L’Équipe the following:

“Luis Enrique knows how to market himself. He has had his own documentary and he is accused of some players and agents of wanting the spotlight solely on him. But he thinks that he can resist the pressure [of the spotlight]. However, he thinks that it is difficult to win (matches) with a documentary on players that exposes problems and the stakes. He didn’t want that to cause mental problems for some players, that [the documentary] doesn’t add more pressure for the likes of Lucas Chevalier, Illia Zabarnyi, or Bradley Barcola in a year that they are going for successive European titles.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle