Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester City is exactly the type of fixture UEFA chiefs had in mind when they revamped the Champions League format, even if the scheduling of the game, on matchday seven of eight in the League Phase, was not exactly ideal. The French and English champions - who met in the semi-finals four seasons ago - were expected to be home and dry by now, assured of their place in the play-offs, if not already in the last-16, and preparing to field rotated starting XIs.
But the game is now anything but the dead-rubber many had envisaged and instead profiles as do-or-die for both teams at Parc des Princes as these two giants battle it out to avoid a humiliating early exit from Europe. Critics of the new format claimed it had been set up to make it easier for the biggest clubs to qualify as all they had to do was finish among the top 24 of 36 teams, and yet the new-look competition has proved to be a real slog for PSG and City, who are placed 26th and 24th, respectively, in the standings.
PSG are on course for the most embarrassing of all their Champions League exits - which is saying something - while City are living dangerously, and defeat in Paris would put them on the brink of the club's biggest European humiliation since they first qualified for the Champions League in 2011. City finally won the continent's holy grail in 2023 after a decade-long quest, but they have a lot of ground to make up on their rivals in terms of overall successes, so an early exit would be catastrophic for them as well as three-time winner Pep Guardiola.
GOAL, then, counts the cost of City potentially failing to make the grade as they prepare for Wednesday's must-win game...
