Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool: Cash-rich French giants on the precipice of costly Champions League group exit

The fact Paris Saint-Germain commissioned Nike and their Jordan Brand subsidiary to create a new kit for the Champions League this season tells you a lot about the club.

But the fact the French giants are one game away from exiting the tournament which acts as a catwalk for their marketing efforts tells you everything about their current predicament.

PSG are a strange club: the only top-flight team in a capital city of 2m people, owned by an arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, inextricably linked with fashion and celebrity – yet despite it all still treading water.

We are only four months into the campaign and already PSG’s 2018-19 season is shaping up like five of the last six: domestic dominance to the point of the ridiculous and disappointment from unfulfilled lofty ambitions in Europe’s premier competition.

Having spent over €1bn since Qatar Sports Investments’ takeover in 2011, including the purchase of the world’s two most expensive players, €220m Neymar and €180m Kylian Mbappe, PSG are embarking on a typical Ligue 1 season.

Thomas Tuchel’s side have won all 14 of their league matches, scoring 46 and conceding just seven to sit a whopping 15 points clear of second-placed Lyon.

But that’s really incidental. It’s expected. PSG right-back Thomas Meunier said this week “it’s quite possible” they could complete the season unbeaten.

However, the problems lie elsewhere – and unfortunately for all involved it’s elsewhere that really matters.

PSG are on the precipice, playing Liverpool at the Parc des Princes tomorrow knowing defeat and a Napoli win at home to Red Star Belgrade would send them crashing out of the Champions League in the group stages for the first time in their seven wealthy seasons.

Considering the financial clout, the reams of star players beyond just Neymar and Mbappe and the lack of exertion in their domestic league, it would amount to an unacceptable outcome for PSG. And they’re under no illusions about the situation.

“Being knocked out of the Champions League would be catastrophic,” Meunier said yesterday. “PSG’s hegemony in the French championship is clear and now people expect more. A Champions League elimination would be a disaster.”

How can you explain a side so utterly dominant domestically but so far off the pace in Europe? PSG thrashed Lyon 5-0 in Ligue 1 in October – a side who beat Manchester City away and are unbeaten in Group F – yet have won just one of their last seven Champions League matches, conceding goals in each of the last eight.

Tuchel is the latest to try and solve that quandary – to try and flick between half-speed and double-speed week after week.

The former Borussia Dortmund coach has a side stuffed with talent, but with no real identity. Tuchel wants his team to work hard, counter-press, defend as a team and track back, yet there is little need to do so in the majority of PSG’s matches.

He has implemented a three-man defence along with attacking full-backs Meunier and Juan Bernat but it hasn’t translated well between competitions, with draws home and away against Napoli and a 3-2 defeat at Anfield.

Now comes the biggest match of Tuchel’s short PSG career. Neymar and Mbappe may be expected to return after injuries, but it is exactly the sort of occasion that has previously tripped up PSG.

“It’s a decisive match, with a lot of pressure,” Tuchel said following PSG’s narrow 1-0 win over Toulouse on Saturday. “We love these challenges. We will play as a team, together, because Liverpool are very strong.”

He better believe his bluster. PSG have suffered continual pain in the Champions League. Barcelona’s dramatic late comeback to win 6-1 and go through 6-5 on aggregate in March 2017 is no doubt still fresh in fans’ minds.

If they are to join Europe’s elite and move a step closer to the ultimate goal their riches demand they must pass the test Liverpool pose tomorrow.