Europe’s premier tournament has become an obsession for this club in recent years. Their sheer financial might means PSG’s dominance of French football is almost a given.
Winning the Ligue 1 title is no longer enough to satisfy their supporters or employees. Only the Champions League will do.
PSG have come close before, most notably in 2019/20 when they finished as runners-up to Bayern Munich. There were also semi-final appearances in 2020/21 and 2023/24.
Right now, though, the trophy seems a long way off. In fact, PSG have a major fight on their hands to simply avoid elimination before the knockout phase.
It would represent quite the failing were Luis Enrique’s side to fall at the end of the league phase. Of the 36 teams competing in the tournament, only 12 will be sent home after the first eight matchdays.
The top eight will advance directly to the round of 16, while those ranked between ninth and 24th will contest the knockout stage play-offs. Heading into Tuesday’s titanic tussle with Red Bull Salzburg, PSG are 25th in the standings.
What has gone wrong? There is an element of bad fortune to all this. PSG were handed a tough draw, pairing them with the likes of Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City across eight games.
Yet even against so-called inferior opposition, the Parisians have been uninspired. To be frank, this team does not look particularly strong. Kylian Mbappe has not had everything his own way at Real Madrid, but PSG were a much better side with him in it.
The club’s galactico approach to recruitment failed spectacularly and it was smart to abandon it. At the moment, though, there is a real lack of star quality at PSG. Opponents do not fear playing them; quite the opposite.
