A shot at glory in the Champions League has once again gone begging for Paris Saint-Germain, whose European pedigree was called into question as they fell to pieces against seasoned veterans Real Madrid.
Despite going 2-0 up in the tie by half time in the last-16 second leg thanks to superstar Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema single-handedly turned the tie on its head for Real to send Los Blancos through 3-2 on aggregate.
Mauricio Pochettino may very well have signed his termination notice with that performance amid persistent speculation surrounding his future, but he is not the first and will likely not be the last manager to fail to take PSG all the way in Europe.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at all of PSG's failures in the Champions League since the 2016-17 season.
2016-17 - LAST-16 - PSG 5-6 BARCELONA
© Reuters
La Remontada. The comeback. The capitulation. Sergi Roberto. Unai Emery's PSG were seemingly home and dry after teaching Barcelona a footballing lesson in the first leg of their last-16 tie, with Angel Di Maria's brace, Julian Draxler's effort and Edinson Cavani's clincher contributing to a 4-0 success.
Les Parisiens simply needed to avoid the most calamitous collapse in order to dump La Blaugrana out of the Champions League and inch closer to the coveted crown, but the Camp Nou turf is unforgiving, and PSG found themselves on the wrong end of one of the most famous results in European history.
It took all of three minutes for Luis Suarez to draw first blood for Barcelona, but with less than five minutes to go in the tie, PSG appeared to be heading for the last eight despite being 3-1 down on the night.
Even Neymar's late brace would not have mattered during the days of the away goals rule, but with no fewer than 95 minutes on the clock, Roberto was allowed to drift into space, poke home and spark pandemonium in Catalonia.
After four consecutive quarter-final exits between 2013 and 2016, PSG's inexperience on the European stage came to the fore once more, and this was only the start of failure after failure to withstand the pressure when it mattered most.
2017-18 - LAST-16 - PSG 2-5 REAL MADRID
Topping a group with Bayern Munich is no mean feat, but PSG did so in 2017-18 and were arguably on the wrong end of the draw for doing so - forced to battle Real Madrid while their German counterparts cruised past Besiktas.
Attempting to obtain a memorable result on Spanish turf was once again a step too far for PSG in the first leg, as despite taking the lead through an unlikely source in Adrien Rabiot, Cristiano Ronaldo's brace and Marcelo's effort contributed to a 3-1 Blancos success.
With Ronaldo also drawing first blood at the Parc des Princes in the second leg and Marco Verratti sent for an early bath, the writing was on the wall for PSG, who fell to a 2-1 defeat on the night as their Spanish counterparts went on to lift the crown.
2018-19 - LAST-16 - PSG 3-3 MANCHESTER UNITED
© Reuters
The last-16 curse would bedevil PSG for the third year running against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United, but the capital side must have thought that the tie was dead and buried after a stellar Old Trafford showing in the first leg.
Ex-Red Devils attacker Angel Di Maria saw the funny side of objects being thrown in his direction from the home crowd - pretending to take a swig from a Heineken bottle - and the Argentine provided both assists for Presnel Kimpembe and Mbappe in a 2-0 first-leg triumph.
With Man United 2-1 up in the dying embers of the second leg and facing elimination at the hands of their French counterparts, Kimpembe went from first-leg hero to second-leg villain, as he was deemed to have handled the ball from Diogo Dalot's effort and buried his face in his hands when VAR awarded the penalty.
Man United won on away goals as Marcus Rashford dispatched the spot kick, the images of Neymar looking aghast on the sidelines became a meme, and Tuchel's quest for a Champions League crown would continue for at least another year.
2019-20 - FINAL - PSG 0-1 BAYERN MUNICH
© Reuters
The bright lights of the Estadio da Luz were ready and waiting. An injured Thomas Tuchel had finally guided PSG to a Champions League final amid the devastating disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and Bayern Munich stood in their way.
Topping their group with Real Madrid and seeing off Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta BC and RB Leipzig in the knockout rounds, PSG were coming up against serial winner Hansi Flick, who lost key centre-back Jerome Boateng to injury in the first half.
However, Bayern's winning mentality came to the fore against the European novices, as Kingsley Coman headed home to win the Champions League for the Bavarians just before the hour mark and force PSG to collect runners-up medals in front of an empty stadium.
2020-21 - SEMI-FINALS - PSG 1-4 MANCHESTER CITY
© Reuters
A proper clash of the titans awaited the beaten finalists in 2020-21, and after gaining revenge on Bayern for the previous year's final, optimism was high among the capital fanbase before Manchester City paid a visit to the Parc des Princes.
Things were going swimmingly for Pochettino's side when Marquinhos struck first with his head in the 15th minute, but Kevin De Bruyne's speculative effort somehow managed to find its way into the far corner before Riyad Mahrez's free kick and Idrissa Gueye's red card contributed to a 2-1 first-leg defeat.
City's awe-inspiring Algerian repeated the trick in the second leg with a brace before Angel Di Maria's sending-off rubbed salt into the wounds for PSG, who came so close yet so far again with a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
2021-22 - LAST-16 - PSG 2-3 REAL MADRID
© Reuters
It would have been one of the biggest footballing fairytales to see the Messi-Mbappe-Neymar combination propel PSG to Champions League glory, and Mbappe's audition certainly went smoothly in the first leg ahead of an anticipated free transfer to the Bernabeu.
The 23-year-old magnificently weaved his way through a sea of white shirts before slotting home with virtually the last kick of the first leg, and a swift PSG counter-attack in the second leg ended with him beating Thibaut Courtois at his near post.
However, after Gianluigi Donnarumma handed Benzema an equaliser on a plate, the Real Madrid stalwart pulled the rabbit out of the hat with two more efforts to shock Pochettino and PSG to the core, and Les Parisiens suffered a calamitous collapse on the Madrid turf.
Carlo Ancelotti's side progressed 3-2 on aggregate against a disconsolate PSG, who could not turn up the heat when it mattered most in an all too familiar sight for the travelling fans, and Pochettino may soon become the next victim of the trigger-happy board.
