Listening to Luis Enrique, you get the idea he is far from impressed with himself.

The man who has turned Paris Saint-Germain from an excellent side to the best club soccer team on the planet has even downplayed his role with the FIFA Club World Cup final against Chelsea at MetLife Stadium looming on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

"I'm not a star," he said during a Friday press conference. "I like the work I do. I enjoy my career, especially during difficult times. When things aren't going well, I feel better. It's nice when everything works out because the best thing about winning is making the people who follow us happy. I've been much better when I've been criticized than when I've been praised."

That's certainly an interesting philosophy from someone who has been so successful.

Entering the Club World Cup, PSG already has secured four trophies this campaign. It's haul includes French Ligue 1 Coupe de France and the French Super Cup domestically, and the UEFA Champions League crown. No. 5 could become reality on Sunday.

PSG doesn't just defeat opposing sides; it runs them into the ground with an excellent press and swift counterattack. Some of its most memorable recent victories this year has routs, such as the 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, the 4-0 trouncing of Atletico in its CWC opener, a 4-0 romp over Inter Miami CF in the Round of 16, and its 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid in Wednesday's semifinals.

Rarely have teams rolled over quality opposition like that.

Compared to many successful club sides in the past, PSG doesn't rely on a superstar to get its engine running.

Instead, Enrique has put together a team without a name that will turn heads in every country in the world. He replaced Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, with a younger, dynamic team that plays total football. Eleven players have scored in this Club World Cup. Right back Achraf Hakimi can become a lethal part of the attack, as we have noticed during the competition.

"Eleven stars. That's football," he said. We don't want just one main player. We want 11 stars. And I would say 13-15, stars even. That's what we need in our sport. That's our commitment, and the commitment we got from the managers and the president and myself."

Enrique has paid his dues and has learned to start at the bottom. Growing up in the Sporting Gijon enjoyed a 17-year-old pro career. He started with Sporting Gijon B in La Liga II in 1988 before earning a spot on its first team in 1989. He then played five seasons with Real Madrid, tallying 15 goals in 157 appearances before joining archrival Barcelona in 1996, for eight seasons until his retirement in 2004. He accumulated 73 goals in 207 matches.

The American sporting equivalent to that would be playing for the New York Yankees and then jumping to the Boston Red Sox in baseball, or vice versa.

He also wore Spain's colors in 62 international contests.

Interestingly, Enrique's playing career might have planted the seeds for his coaching philosophy. A strong technical player, he demonstrated his versatility, playing any position in the midfield or forward. He played many times as an attacking midfielder, although he excelled as a deep-lying center mid as well.

Following suit in his playing career, Enrique began his coaching with a second-tier team, directing Barcelona B for three seasons. He then guided Roma (Italy) Celta and Barcelona (Spain). With Barca, his teams won La Liga twice and Copa del Rey once and the Champions League in 2014-15.

He also pushed the buttons of the Spanish national team from 2018-22 before joining PSG, replacing the sacked Christophe Galtier on July 5, 2023.

That's when he began the transformation of the club. Gone are the big names. In their place are players who can make big plays over and over again.

In 2020, Messi said that Pep Guardiola and Enrique were the two best coaches he had played under.

“I was lucky that I had a lot of time with Guardiola and Luis Enrique, the two best,” he was quoted on www.beinsports.com. "Having them [for so long] made me grow a lot in football and in the tactical wisdom that they taught me."

Enrique has had a contentious relationship with reporters.

In September 2024, he had this to say at a press conference, according to ESPN.com:

"I have a lot of fun with you [the journalists], that is the truth.

"I’ve never shortened a press conference. I love to talk ... But if I had the choice and right now, I could sign a piece of paper saying I don't talk to the press anymore and have 25 percent, in fact 50 percent taken off [wages], I would sign it.

"But I think it's going to be impossible because the contracts that the clubs sign demand that the coach speaks. I have a good time but if I could avoid it, I would; especially the post-game press conferences because I don't have the energy to put up with certain things."

There are certain things in life that drives the man. He revealed a part of himself after PSG captured the Champions League crown on May 31. Following the final, PSG supporters in Munich, Germany, unveiled a tifo in tribute to Enrique’s daughter Xana, who died in 2019 at the age of nine from cancer.

"Very emotional,” he said, according to www.independent.com. “It’s lovely from the fans, and for my family. But I don’t need to win a Champions League to remember my daughter. She’s always present with us. I feel it when we lose, too, it crystallizes all the positives we lived.”

So, he is far from being a machine who devises soccer tactics all the time.

But back to soccer.

Now, with history and a world championship at his doorstep, Enrique refused to put the proverbial horse in front of the card before Sunday's final.

"Maybe this could be the best season of my coaching career," he said on Friday. “But there’s still a final to win. When we’ve won it, we’ll talk about it.”

Given how fleeting success can be and with players transferring in and out of clubs, we don't know how long PSG's success will continue.

Enrique understood how fragile that can be. In fact, he cited Manchester City's recent struggles in the Premier League in England.

"We've seen Manchester City, for example," he said. "They won everything last year and then they lose 10 games, and they're crushed. Pep Guardiola is still the best coach in the world and they're killing him. So, I prefer criticism over praise because it makes you feel humble. It’s the crude reality."

If Enrique makes the right choices and moves and his players live up to their potential, the reality is that PSG could be celebrating a world championship come early Sunday evening.