MUNICH (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain's ascent to the top of European soccer is complete. Staying there is another matter entirely.
Saturday's Champions League triumph confirmed what many observers had suspected for some time - that PSG's moment had finally come.
Years of frustration in European club soccer's elite competition was blown away in one glorious and historic night in Munich.
Not only did PSG end its long wait for the trophy it prized most of all but it produced a statement performance and set a new benchmark for what it is to win the Champions League title.
The 5-0 rout of Inter Milan was officially the biggest winning margin of any final in the competition's 70-year history. And it could have been so much more emphatic had Bradley Barcola been clinical in front of goal, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia taken more than just one of his chances or Désiré Doué stayed on the field for longer than 67 minutes having scored two and set up another.
Star striker Ousmane Dembele didn't even get a goal to his name.
As impressive as PSG's victory was, it could have been even better. In other words, this is a team that is yet to reach its peak.
With an average age of 24.8 years old, PSG's starting lineup was packed with youth, which was in stark contrast to an Inter team with an average age of over 30.
At 31, captain Marquinhos was PSG's only starter over 30, while Doué was one of three teenagers to play, along with substitutes Senny Mayulu and Warren Zaire-Emery.
“We have a lot of young players - players who need to develop and I'm one of them,” Doué said. “We are always going to strive to get better.”
Keeping young teams together is easier said than done when Europe's biggest clubs come calling. That should not be a concern for Qatar-backed PSG, which is one of the richest clubs in the world and in recent years has focused on picking up the best young talent - from France in particular.
It seems there is little danger of PSG settling for just one Champions League title.
"We are ambitious, we are going to continue to conquer the football world,” a triumphant Luis Enrique said Saturday night after winning the trophy for the second time as a coach, 10 years after leading Barcelona to the trophy.
He sounds like a man who has his sights set on building a new era of dominance and quickly turned to adding to the treble of trophies already won this season.
Next up is the newly expanded Club World Cup.
“I think it is an incredible competition. Maybe not now in its first edition, but it will become an incredibly important competition to win,” he said of the tournament that kicks off in the United States this month. “We want to finish the season in style with the cherry on the cake.”
The 55-year-old Luis Enrique has established himself as one of the finest coaches in the world after winning a second Champions League title.
PSG has entrusted him to build a team in his image, rather than a selection of superstars and it has paid off.
He has turned PSG into a Champions League winner while playing arguably the most exciting soccer in Europe, with Barcelona possibly the only team to rival it in the entertainment stakes.
Yet while Barcelona was picked off by a wily Inter in the semifinals, the Italians were blown away by PSG.
Liverpool, which ran away with the Premier League title this season, was eliminated in the round of 16, while Manchester City and Arsenal were beaten as well.
Luis Enrique's brand of soccer has simply been too good for the rest in Europe, which is now playing catch up.
It is difficult to see where PSG needs to add to a squad with so much depth, but its rise to the top has come on the back of spending billions on some of the world's best players.
The era of Galactico signings is over for now, but the arrival of Kvaratskhelia from Napoli in January was evidence of president Nasser Al-Khelaifi's ongoing willingness to go big in the transfer market.
The Georgian forward sparked a dramatic turnaround in PSG's form in Europe, which saw it go from near elimination at the league phase to Champions League winner.
Manchester City might have thought its Champions League title in 2023 would spark a new era of success in Europe, but the opposite has been true and Pep Guardiola's team was eliminated in the playoffs this season.
The Champions League is notoriously difficult to defend, with Real Madrid the only team to retain the trophy in the modern era, having won three in a row from 2016-18. The difficulty is largely due to the wide spread of talent among Europe's elite.
PSG will come up against a Liverpool team that topped the league phase of this year's competition and is already making ambitious moves in the transfer market.
Madrid with a new coach in Xabi Alonso and signings such as Trent Alexander-Arnold should be a contender again. So too Barcelona after falling short in the semifinal.
City, meanwhile, is undergoing a rebuild of its own.
PSG, however, will likely start next season as the team to beat, with a bright young squad that finally knows how to get over the line.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's head coach Luis Enrique celebrates with the trophy after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma embraces PSG's President Nasser Al-Khelaifi after the Champions League Final soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Inter at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday May 31, 2025 . (Spada/LaPresse via AP)
PSG's Marquinhos celebrates during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Inter Milan, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route.
In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It's a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it's resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation.
Their journey began Oct. 26, 2025, at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas, and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is connecting with people along the way.
“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s soft-spoken leader who is making the trek barefoot. He teaches about mindfulness, forgiveness and healing at every stop.
Preferring to sleep each night in tents pitched outdoors, the monks have been surprised to see their message transcend ideologies, drawing huge crowds into churchyards, city halls and town squares across six states. Documenting their journey on social media, they — and their dog, Aloka — have racked up millions of followers online. On Saturday, thousands thronged in Columbia, South Carolina, where the monks chanted on the steps of the State House and received a proclamation from the city's mayor, Daniel Rickenmann.
At their stop Thursday in Saluda, South Carolina, Audrie Pearce joined the crowd lining Main Street. She had driven four hours from her village of Little River, and teared up as Pannakara handed her a flower.
“There’s something traumatic and heart-wrenching happening in our country every day,” said Pearce, who describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. “I looked into their eyes and I saw peace. They’re putting their bodies through such physical torture and yet they radiate peace.”
Hailing from Theravada Buddhist monasteries across the globe, the 19 monks began their 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) trek at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.
Their journey has not been without peril. On Nov. 19, as the monks were walking along U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, their escort vehicle was hit by a distracted truck driver, injuring two monks. One of them lost his leg, reducing the group to 18.
This is Pannakara's first trek in the U.S., but he's walked across several South Asian countries, including a 112-day journey across India in 2022 where he first encountered Aloka, an Indian Pariah dog whose name means divine light in Sanskrit.
Then a stray, the dog followed him and other monks from Kolkata in eastern India all the way to the Nepal border. At one point, he fell critically ill and Pannakara scooped him up in his arms and cared for him until he recovered. Now, Aloka inspires him to keep going when he feels like giving up.
“I named him light because I want him to find the light of wisdom,” Pannakara said.
The monk's feet are now heavily bandaged because he's stepped on rocks, nails and glass along the way. His practice of mindfulness keeps him joyful despite the pain from these injuries, he said.
Still, traversing the southeast United States has presented unique challenges, and pounding pavement day after day has been brutal.
“In India, we can do shortcuts through paddy fields and farms, but we can’t do that here because there are a lot of private properties,” Pannakara said. “But what’s made it beautiful is how people have welcomed and hosted us in spite of not knowing who we are and what we believe.”
In Opelika, Alabama, the Rev. Patrick Hitchman-Craig hosted the monks on Christmas night at his United Methodist congregation.
He expected to see a small crowd, but about 1,000 people showed up, creating the feel of a block party. The monks seemed like the Magi, he said, appearing on Christ’s birthday.
“Anyone who is working for peace in the world in a way that is public and sacrificial is standing close to the heart of Jesus, whether or not they share our tradition,” said Hitchman-Craig. “I was blown away by the number of people and the diversity of who showed up.”
After their night on the church lawn, the monks arrived the next afternoon at the Collins Farm in Cusseta, Alabama. Judy Collins Allen, whose father and brother run the farm, said about 200 people came to meet the monks — the biggest gathering she’s ever witnessed there.
“There was a calm, warmth and sense of community among people who had not met each other before and that was so special,” she said.
Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth temple, said the monks, when they arrive in Washington, plan to seek recognition of Vesak, the day which marks the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, as a national holiday.
“Doing so would acknowledge Vesak as a day of reflection, compassion and unity for all people regardless of faith,” he said.
But Pannakara emphasized that their main goal is to help people achieve peace in their lives. The trek is also a separate endeavor from a $200 million campaign to build towering monuments on the temple’s 14-acre property to house the Buddha’s teachings engraved in stone, according to Dong.
The monks practice and teach Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. It focuses on the mind-body connection — observing breath and physical sensations to understand reality, impermanence and suffering. Some of the monks, including Pannakara, walk barefoot to feel the ground directly and be present in the moment.
Pannakara has told the gathered crowds that they don't aim to convert people to Buddhism.
Brooke Schedneck, professor of religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the tradition of a peace walk in Theravada Buddhism began in the 1990s when the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, led marches across war-torn areas riddled with landmines to foster national healing after civil war and genocide in his country.
“These walks really inspire people and inspire faith,” Schedneck said. “The core intention is to have others watch and be inspired, not so much through words, but through how they are willing to make this sacrifice by walking and being visible.”
On Thursday, Becki Gable drove nearly 400 miles (about 640 kilometers) from Cullman, Alabama, to catch up with them in Saluda. Raised Methodist, Gable said she wanted some release from the pain of losing her daughter and parents.
“I just felt in my heart that this would help me have peace,” she said. “Maybe I could move a little bit forward in my life.”
Gable says she has already taken one of Pannakara’s teachings to heart. She’s promised herself that each morning, as soon as she awakes, she’d take a piece of paper and write five words on it, just as the monk prescribed.
“Today is my peaceful day.”
Freelance photojournalist Allison Joyce contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," get lunch Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Aloka rests with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A sign is seen greeting the Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters pray with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters watch Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A Buddhist monk ties a prayer bracelet around the wrist of Josey Lee, 2-months-old, during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara leads other buddhist monks in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Audrie Pearce greets Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," arrive in Saluda, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," are seen with their dog, Aloka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
