With every year that passes it feels like PSG are increasingly the pantomime villains of the Champions League.
Any club that are seen to ‘buy success’ are the enemy of the neutrals.
But none, not even Man City, have embraced this particular type of antagonistic role quite like PSG.
And to my shame, I enjoy watching them fail.
Activating Neymar’s £198million release clause remains their most dastardly act.
When Barcelona set valuation they would have done so under the assumption that no club would, or could, match it.
But they didn’t account for PSG’s penchant for the short-sighted sublime.
Neymar’s world-record transfer changed football overnight.
Suddenly, every player on the planet was worth (at least) double what they were the day before.
The trickle-down effect is still being felt now, with previously eye-watering fees now a common exchange for squad players.
PSG then dropped another £120 million on 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe.
The funny thing is, Financial Fair Play restrictions mean they are now unable to bolster a midfield in desperate need of a shake-up.
Free agent Lassana Diarra came on board in January but, as effective as the 33-year-old journeyman can be at his best, he is not the solution to a severe problem.
Their answer to Liverpool’s superiority in midweek was to bring on Eric Choupo-Moting, a forward who scored five goals in 30 games for relegated Stoke last season.
Spending all that cash has resulted in an embarrassing imbalance — doesn’t your heart bleed for them?
So what have PSG got to show for their ground-shaking transfer activity?
Well, every domestic trophy available to them for a start.
However, such is the discrepancy between their spending and the rest of the teams in France, the only true measure of their quality is the Champions League.
Last season, after dishing out the kind of thrashings they usually reserve for Guingamp, Caen and Angers to Celtic and Anderlecht, the mighty PSG were taught a lesson by Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Taught a lesson is perhaps the wrong phrase as it implies PSG’s prima donnas actually learned something.
Their defeat at the hands of Liverpool earlier this week proved they haven’t learned a thing.
Thomas Tuchel has replaced Unai Emery in the dugout but still PSG believe their £373million frontline are so outrageously talented that their problems elsewhere need not be addressed.
A midfield trio comprising of a centre-back, a winger, and a young midfielder who refused to be on standby for the world champions this summer, were unsurprisingly overwhelmed by their counterparts.
Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner and Jordan Henderson are PSG’s complete opposites — hardworking, tactically aware, humble.
Milner smashing Neymar by the touchline felt symbolic of the whole match.
As for the megastars up top, how they can’t bring themselves to press and hustle for just a handful of European games each year is beyond me.
90 minutes of hard work and then you can go back to nutmegging Rennes full-backs at the weekend.
But no, Neymar allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold the freedom of an entire flank and took far too many touches when he was in possession.
I’m not a Neymar hater by any means — In fact, I actually quite like him.
But there is no doubt PSG exists to serve the Brazilian No10 at this point in time.
And in the last two seasons, he has failed to repay them for this honour on big Champions League nights.
Most of PSG’s fans burned more calories than he did at Anfield.
A 3-2 loss flattered the visitors.
At 2-1, both teams played as if they were 3-0 up — it was one of the weirdest passages of football I’ve ever seen.
The PSG players looked almost offended that the opposition got in their faces.
In Ligue 1, teams indulge them and settle for front row seats of the Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe show.
In the Champions League, they are exposed as pretenders and flat-track bullies.
In their current state, PSG appear more like am ambitious Nike advert than a football club.
Their snazzy Michael Jordan kits looked great but unless PSG deflate their egos, it’ll be forever associated with yet another underwhelming European campaign.
And it’s just so, so difficult to feel sorry for them.
NEXT: Pep Guardiola’s all-time XI vs Jose Mourinho’s all-time XI — which team is better?