Nowadays, knowing how things have unfolded, it is easy to understand that Paris Saint-Germain did not achieve even a fraction of what was planned when they assembled a squad that would make almost any European team envious. But now, with most of their star players gone and the dream of winning a major title like the Champions League not existing in the near future, let’s revisit this strange moment in football history.
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When the club was acquired by Qatar Sports Investments, a fund that paid around 50 million euros and took on the club’s debts, which amounted to nearly 100 million euros, the ambition was clear: to place a substantial financial stake on the table, transforming the Parisian team into a title-winning machine and a footballing superpower. With the acquisition, the CEO of QSI, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, also assumed the presidency of PSG, and the team began making significant investments and high-profile signings.
At the time, PSG was already winning the French league and the Coupe de France with relative ease, but this was deemed insufficient. The ultimate goal from the project’s inception was to win the coveted Champions League, and no expense would be spared in pursuit of this dream. Thus, in the 2012-13 season, the grand narrative began to unfold as the star-studded squad was assembled. Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura, and Ezequiel Lavezzi were the key players brought in during this season’s revamp, costing a total of approximately 151 million euros. A wave of expectation surged around these men.
Initially, the outlook was promising as Paris Saint-Germain clinched the Ligue 1 title, and the newly arrived Ibrahimović became the top scorer with 30 goals—a historic achievement. However, in the Champions League, the first setback emerged. The team managed to defeat Valencia in the round of 16 but faced the formidable Barcelona, led by Messi and his compatriots, in the quarterfinals and were subsequently eliminated. Similarly, in the Coupe de France, they fell in the quarterfinals as well.
In the 13-14 season, fresh blood was brought in to patch up the gaps in the squad. Enter Marquinhos, Cavani, Cabaye, and Digne, all recruited to plug the holes on the field—a financial hit of 136 million euros. The team balanced out, and the attack was fierce, with Cavani, Ibra, and Lavezzi leading the charge. Yet again, PSG bulldozed their way through Ligue 1, a league too feeble to pose any real threat to the Parisian powerhouse.
But when it came to the knockout brawls of the Champions League, things took a turn. PSG breezed past Leverkusen in the round of 16, but the quarterfinals were a different beast. They faced Chelsea from England, winning the first clash 3-1. Yet, in the return leg, they choked, falling 2-0 to the English squad, getting axed on away goals, and crashing out in the quarterfinals yet again. Two back-to-back flops in the Champions League, despite splurging a fortune, left PSG’s top brass far from satisfied.
Once again, the Parisian squad hit the market, ready to burn some serious cash and bring in more top-tier talent to craft the ultimate team. In the 14-15 season, they roped in Brazilian defender David Luiz and Aurier to bolster the defense, shelling out a cool 60 million euros. With these investments ramping up, the pressure was sky-high, and PSG’s brass had one goal in mind: conquer the Champions League. But fate had a different plan. That season, they ran into one of the decade’s best teams, Barcelona, featuring the infamous MSN trio. In the quarters, Paris stumbled hard, losing 3-1 in the first match and 2-0 in the second, crashing out at the same stage as the previous years. The board and the fans were fed up—something had to change to make the team more competitive against Europe’s elite.
So, once again, PSG dipped into their deep pockets for the 2015-16 season, bringing in big names like Ángel Di María, Kurzawa, and Kevin Trapp, reshaping their squad. However, in the Champions League, the quarterfinal curse struck again as PSG were knocked out by Manchester City. It was clear that despite their domestic dominance, Europe’s elite competition remained elusive.
Fast forward to the 2017-18 season, and PSG went all out, signing Neymar for a record-breaking 222 million euros, along with Dani Alves and Kylian Mbappé. Yet, even with this star-studded lineup, they faltered in the Champions League, eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16. The pattern repeated itself in the following seasons, with PSG making deep runs but never clinching the coveted title.