The Champions League's biggest bottlers! PSG at real risk of suffering their most embarrassing European exit yet ahead of Man City clash

It was clear from the moment that QSI acquired a majority stake in PSG in 2011 that the new owners meant business. The goal was very obviously to become the dominant force in European football. In an interview with L'Equipe in 2014, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi even went so far as to predict a Champions League triumph within four years.

It was a serious statement of intent - but proved a serious error of judgement. As former captain Thiago Silva subsequently admitted, Al-Khelaifi's vow placed an incredible amount of pressure on the players - and they buckled under it. Repeatedly.

There was 'La Remontada' against Barcelona in 2017, when PSG capitulated at Camp Nou, the unforgivable collapse at home to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United two years later that turned a disbelieving Neymar into a meme, and the devastating 1-0 defeat in their one and only final, against Bayern Munich, in 2020.

"The pressure to win the Champions League was too heavy," Thiago Silva told Le Parisien in September 2023. "It was something that hurt me because I saw the situation change, and the pressure increased to win. But that's not how you win. It's a question of consistency year after year."

Thiago Silva's compatriot and successor as PSG captain, Marquinhos, has repeatedly insisted that the squad no longer carries the same burden, but their Champions League results would suggest otherwise.

Since making the final five years ago, PSG have endured another shocking last-16 surrender (away to Real Madrid, in 2021-22), been beaten with worrying ease by both Manchester City (2020-21) and Bayern Munich (2022-23), and, perhaps most disappointingly of all, allowed Borussia Dortmund to get the better of them in last season's semi-finals.

For all of the money QSI has invested in the boosting the brand, the public perception of PSG remains the same: perennial champions of France but the Champions League's biggest bottlers, doomed to disappoint in Europe, always certain to find one way or another to throw away ties that they should win.

And why? Because the feeling is that PSG's desperate pursuit of the ultimate glory in the club game has clouded their judgement; that they've got their priorities all wrong.

It's certainly rather telling that Luis Enrique said shortly after his unveiling, "When a club is obsessed with something, it is never a good sign. You have to have ambition, but obsession doesn't work."

Stockpiling superstars didn't work for PSG either, which is why they have recently decided to move away from what Al-Khelaifi called the "flashy, bling-bling" signings for which the club had become famous.

Obviously, every attempt was made to keep Kylian Mbappe, but it was noticeable even before the forward's inevitable move to Real Madrid last summer that PSG were trying something different under sporting director Luis Campos.

That's not to say that they haven't continued to spend significant sums of money in the market, but we've seen a noticeable shift in policy in the last few transfer windows, with the club signing fewer proven talents and bringing in more players of real potential aged 23 or under, such as Bradley Barcola, Goncalo Ramos, Lucas Beraldo, Willian Pacho, Joao Neves and Desire Doue.

There was always an acceptance that it would take some time for all of these younger players to gel (at least in continental competition). However, Champions League elimination would undoubtedly affect the fans' faith in the new project and result in Luis Enrique's position being called into question again, with a clearly irritated Al-Khelaifi having to issue a vote of confidence in the coach just last month.

"I can’t believe what is being written [about Luis Enrique] and I even find it ridiculous," the Qatari told L'Equipe. "But we won’t let it affect our football at all. We have a short-, medium- and long-term strategy and I have full confidence in the manager, in the players, and all of our team."

However, being dumped out of Europe by the end of January would be difficult for Al-Khelaifi & Co to defend.

There's no denying that the league phase draw was hard on PSG, who have already faced Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in this season's tournament, while Luis Enrique and a number of his players have argued with some degree of justification that they've been unlucky to only take only seven points from their six games so far.

PSG dominated the second half of their 1-1 draw at home to PSV, and it was a similar story in the dramatic 2-1 loss to Atletico in Paris. However, there is no excuse for such an expensively assembled side finding themselves 26th in a 36-team league, below compatriots Lille, Monaco and Brest, whose performances in this season's Champions League have made a mockery of PSG's.

Indeed, the once-again runaway Ligue 1 leaders were abject away to Arsenal, with even Luis Enrique admitting that they barely won a duel all evening at the Emirates, where the final scoreline of 2-0 flattered them enormously. They never looked like breaking down Bayern either - especially after Ousmane Dembele stupidly got himself sent off.

It's also worth remembering that while PSG were unlucky to concede late against Atletico, the injury-ravaged Rojiblancos had arrived in the French capital without five defenders, while the only home win to date, against Girona, came courtesy of a farcically fortuitous 90th-minute own goal from Paulo Gazzaniga.

Truth be told, it's pitiful that PSG now most likely need to win one of their two remaining games, against either City or Stuttgart, just to be sure of making the play-off round, when such an expensively assembled side really should be battling for a top-eight finish - and the automatic last-16 spot that comes with it.

Luckily for Luis Enrique, while his new star signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is ineligible for the league phase of the Champions League, it appears that key defensive duo Achraf Hakimi and Marquinhos will be fit to face City. However, PSG are also painfully aware that their opponents are looking a little like their old free-scoring selves again after their rotten run of form before Christmas and arrive in Paris intent on getting the win they also need to get them to 10 points.

"This will be our most important game of the season," Luis Enrique admitted in his pre-match press conference Tuesday. "I hope that we will play many more very important matches this season, but this one is special. With the new Champions League format, nobody could have predicted that both City and PSG would have this number of points on the penultimate matchday."

It's certainly a shock, but PSG's position is less surprising than City's - and far more precarious. Whereas the English champions conclude their league-phase campaign at home to Club Brugge, their French counterparts must travel to the MHPArena for a very tricky final fixture against Stuttgart, who themselves know avoiding defeat will secure them a knockout berth.

The pressure, then, will be very much on PSG at Parc des Princes - and that's rarely a good thing for a club that remains synonymous with humiliating European exits. This season's Champions League campaign could easily prove the Parisians' most painful yet.