Deja vu: Another European disappointment in Paris
Paris Saint-Germain were sent crashing out of the Champions League in the round of 16, with their objective of one day lifting the trophy still very far in the distance.
Last year it was Barcelona, and this time around it was fellow La Liga giants Real Madrid. Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League aspirations went up in smoke for another season as Cristiano Ronaldo sent Real Madrid into the quarter-finals at their expense.
Never mind the Qatari-backed investment, the Ligue 1 side will not feature among the top eight teams in Europe, with PSG never making it past that stage and into the semi-finals of the competition.
After another summer of heavy spending, it seemed it was now or never. Record-signing Neymar was sidelined through injury while the club’s other big acquisition Kylian Mbappé was taking off before full time.
The Parisians were too defensive from the off and Real Madrid easily dispatched a side lacking a fitting tactical approach to the tie. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi will already be asking a very important question: who will replace Unai Emery at the end of the season?