The crisis summit between PSG and ManCity is taking place in Paris

The Champions League has a new format this season, and as always with something new, there was initially criticism: It was said that there was a lack of clarity and comparability. And anyway, in the mammoth field of 36 participants, the league phase would turn into a walk in the park for the favorites. Yes, Eureka: Even before the penultimate matchday, the invention had a remarkable impact.

In Paris’ Prinzenpark on Wednesday evening (from 9 p.m.), the 25th in the table, Paris Saint-Germain, will meet the 22nd, Manchester City. Whoever loses will likely have little control over at least reaching the play-offs for the first 24 teams on the last day of the match. PSG could be eliminated as early as Wednesday if they lose.

The French, who are subsidized by Qatar, have only won seven points in six games. With opponents like Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and FC Bayern, they also fell victim to the more treacherous draw in the new mode. The PSG coach Luis Enrique, who, like his counterpart and former teammate Pep Guardiola, began his coaching career in the FC Barcelona second team, said before the “special and particularly important match”: “I don’t think anyone could have predicted that PSG and City would find themselves in such a situation.”

PSG and Manchester City are reacting to their crises with frustration shopping

The “Citizens” supported by Abu Dhabi have so far only gained one point more. The Guardiola team, which had been unassailable in everyday life for many years, experienced an almost eerie slump before Christmas. An empire wavered in a way that would hardly be expected in today’s top football. During thirteen games across all competitions with just one win, the unsettled Manchester City team also tumbled dangerously down the table in the Champions League.

Both clubs recently responded to their crises in a tried and tested manner: with frustration shopping: PSG bought the Georgian wing artist Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from SSC Napoli for 75 million euros. City treated themselves to the talented defenders Abdukodir Khusanov (Lens) and Vitor Reis (Palmeiras) as well as the attacker Omar Marmoush (Frankfurt) for a total of 150 million euros, although the transfer of the latter has not yet been confirmed. In the Champions League, however, the newly signed Manchester City will only be of use if they reach the knockout phase. During the league phase, clubs are not allowed to register new players.

The crisis summit of the petrodollar clubs is not just advertising for the reformed Champions League format – it also culminates a trend that has now been going on for around two decades: Despite their long unlimited possibilities – it is only recently that the financial fair play rules have been tightened at least a certain restriction – nouveau riche investor clubs still have a hard time in the elite Champions League.

Despite spending a total of 2.3 billion euros in transfers, PSG has never won the premier class in the era under Qatari leadership since 2011. Manchester City, which has spent 2.7 billion on new players since it was taken over by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, has only triumphed once, in 2023. And even Chelsea FC, which was taken over by oligarch Roman Abramovich in 2003 and has so far won 3, 65 billion invested in transfers, was less successful with its two titles (2012, 2021) on continental playing fields than at home.

It seems appropriate to speak of a parvenu complex between these clubs – Pep Guardiola, the City coach, has himself hinted at this often enough. Since taking office in 2016, he has repeatedly emphasized that his team should not be compared to historical greats such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich or Liverpool. “We don’t have a comparable story behind us,” he explained, in order to make the psychological factor understandable.

Manchester City lacked the habit of big nights, the know-how in moments of high tension. This became clear at the beginning even against outsiders like Monaco, Tottenham or Lyon. Later, against Real Madrid, it was shown several times how Guardiola’s analysis became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Against the Spaniards, the “Citizens” either collapsed shortly before the goal, around 2022. Or they were unable to convert their vast superiority into goals like last year.

PSG also failed twice in 2018 and 2022 against the traditional club from Madrid, but sometimes also under grotesque circumstances against supposedly smaller opponents. In 2019, the Paris club squandered a two-goal lead against a weakened Manchester United in front of their own crowd, and last season they didn’t even score a goal in the semi-final against outsiders Borussia Dortmund.

Nationally, money can only be controlled in exceptional cases. However, the giants can compensate for occasional blackouts over 38 match days. In France, given the lack of financial competition, it is astonishing enough that PSG missed out on two championships in the last decade; Monaco triumphed in 2017, Lille in 2021. This year, Paris Saint-Germain is again confidently leading the table.

In England, it was the liaison between the coaching legend Guardiola and the possibly fraudulent use of limitless resources that brought the “Citizens” a dividend of six championships in the past seven years. But when things got serious in Europe, even reckless investment only helped to a limited extent.

The prevented rebellion against the power of tradition

The finding can be expanded with astonishing numbers. The ten European clubs that have recorded the most negative transfer balances (i.e. expenditure less income) since 2012 have collectively won just two Champions League trophies during this period. Ahead of Paris, Chelsea and Manchester City in second to fourth place, Manchester United has the worst trade balance with a loss of almost 1.5 billion euros – but has not even reached a semi-final in all these years.

However, ManU wasted their money in a hysterical zigzag; The club has never won the championship since 2013. PSG and ManCity, on the other hand, are competing in the Champions League with the tailwind of domestic dominance. Against this background, their continental dabbling is all the more remarkable. If one of the two Sheikh clubs actually fails to make it into the 24 best teams in Europe, it would be the most spectacular setback to date in the thwarted uprising against the power of tradition.