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Once they step out of the eye of the storm it is easier for players and managers to see just how destabilising Paris Saint-Germain's obsession to win the Champions League has been.

'The pressure for the Champions League was too strong,' now-Chelsea centre back Thiago Silva, who spent eight years at PSG, told Le Parisien last year.

'It was something that hurt me because I saw the situation change, and the pressure increased to win. But that's not how you win. It's a question of consistency year after year.'

Ander Herrera, himself at PSG for three years at a time when he was able to count Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as team-mates, holds similar frustrations.

'PSG is a club that doesn't have a lot of patience,' he told beIN Sports. 'There's an obsession with winning the Champions League that doesn't help. I think it's the only club in the world where, if they don't win the Champions League, it's a failure.'

Ambition is one thing but PSG's entire seasons have centred on one singular cup competition. It was made apparent to those who walked through the door: it's win or bust. The rest is of little interest.

'Everything at PSG is focused on the Champions League and sometimes that can be a little distracting,' former boss Mauricio Pochettino previously told Marca.

'Those demands seem to only exist in the build-up to European games and other competitions are taken for granted due to PSG's superiority. 

'The Champions League is the obsession and anything short of winning the Champions League is equivalent to failure.'

And there are plenty of testimonies that sound almost identical.

Since Qatari ownership flooded PSG with cash in 2011 they have burned through seven managers and have spent more than £1.1billion in pursuit of European football's most desired trophy.

A Galactico approach, which, to name a few, has seen Sergio Ramos, Neymar, Messi, Angel Di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edison Cavani, Mauro Icardi, Lucas Moura and Ezequiel Lavezzi, walk in and out of the revolving door, has brought zero Champions League trophies and just one final appearance.

In fact, since Qatari Sports Investments (QSI) took control, they have made it past the quarter-final stage only twice - 2019-20 when they got to the final, and in 2020-21 when they reached the semi-finals.

Last season, a routine last-16 exit at the hands of Bayern Munich brought about a cutting assessment from French daily newspaper L'Equipe.

'At PSG, when it comes to the knockout stages of the Champions League, defeat is a culture,' L’Équipe's Vincent Duluc wrote. Few argued with such a withering assessment.

'When a club is obsessed with something, it is never a good sign,' current managerial incumbent Luis Enrique said recently. 'You have to have ambition but obsession doesn't work.'

He's right - and PSG have realised it. A new approach, centred on younger players that better fit as a team, rather than a focus on individual star power, is said to be

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