#2 Paris Saint-Germain
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Since their purchase by Qatari billionaires in 2011, Paris Saint-Germain have become one of Europe’s most powerful clubs, able to sign top players and pay them insane wages, and due to that, they’ve seen tremendous success, winning Ligue 1 for the past three seasons. The major goal, however, has always been the Champions League and failure to make a mark in Europe eventually cost Laurent Blanc his job last season.
Whilst they’ve been able to reach the quarterfinals every season since 2012/13, they have never progressed further.
This season could’ve been so different. Sure, they lost the talismanic Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United in the summer, but then in January, they signed German superstar Julian Draxler – one of the top performers at Euro 2016. They were also drawn into a relatively easy Champions League group, alongside Arsenal, Basel and Ludogorets.
Draws at home and away to Arsenal, as well as a draw at home to Ludogorets meant they finished behind the Gunners in the group, and in turn that led to a second-round meeting with Barcelona. After a stunning 4-0 victory in the first leg, PSG seemed to be on their way to the quarters, but somehow they conspired to throw it all away, losing 6-1 at the Nou Camp and allowing Barca through.
You could argue that Barcelona’s performance on that fateful night was once-in-a-lifetime, but even in Ligue 1, PSG have choked this season, as it’s looking highly likely that they’ll lose out on a league title to Monaco. By their lofty standards, it hasn’t been a good season for France’s biggest club by any stretch of the imagination.
