Are PSG primed for Champions League success at last after keeping Mbappe?

In a decade of trying to get their hands on the biggest prize in European club football, PSG have appeared in the final just once, losing to Bayern Munich in 2020

For Paris Saint-Germain, each season begins with the question of whether this might be their year in the Champions League, which kicks off for Kylian Mbappe and his team-mates against Juventus on Tuesday.

In a decade of trying to get their hands on the biggest prize in European club football since the transformational Qatari takeover, PSG have appeared in the final just once, losing to Bayern Munich in 2020 after the pandemic forced UEFA to innovate with a ‘Final Eight’ format.

Otherwise it has been regular disappointment heaped upon occasional humiliation, such as last season’s exit to Real Madrid in the last 16, when they led 2-0 on aggregate an hour into the second leg.

PSG have spent the close season trying to ensure that this time there is no repeat, and so in came a new coach, a new man in charge of recruitment, and a clutch of new signings.

Most importantly, Mbappe stayed put, turning down Real Madrid in the hope he can lead his hometown club to a first Champions League title.

It looks like an all or nothing gamble for all parties, only increasing the pressure on PSG to deliver in Europe this season, when Lionel Messi and Neymar are still by Mbappe’s side.

The early signs for that trio are promising, leaving aside some concerns about Mbappe’s attitude in a Ligue 1 game last month and worries about a war of egos between him and Neymar in particular.