Paris Saint-Germain: 'Defeat is a culture' at club as French team again dumped out of the Champions League

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN

Updated 1449 GMT (2249 HKT) March 9, 2023

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored Bayern Munich's first goal past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

(CNN)So dominant in French soccer, Paris Saint-Germain continues to fall short in the UEFA Champions League.

An all too familiar story was rehashed on Wednesday as the French giant endured yet another humiliatinground of 16 exit following Bayern Munich's 2-0 victory — 3-0 on aggregate.Second-half goals at the Allianz Arena from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry took the game and tie from the visitors, consigning them to a fifth elimination at this stage in the last seven seasons.On European soccer's biggest stage, PSG superstars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé were easily controlled by the Bavarians.Mbappé couldn't get the better of Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano, while every time Messi got on the ball he was invariably crowded out by a posse of German players.Read MoreMeanwhile, Neymar Jr. was altogether absent for the match — the fourth time in his six seasons with PSG that he's been absent from a key European match.French sports newspaper L'Équipe, notorious for its tough player ratings, gave Mbappé and Messi a 3/10, while midfielder Marco Veratti earned a 2/10. «At PSG, when it comes to the knockout stages of the Champions League, defeat is a culture,» wrote L'Équipe journalist Vincent Duluc in a brutal analysis of the French club's performance.Messi has won three Champions League titles, but his most recent came in 2015.PSG started brightly, with Mbappé going close early on and Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt making a terrific goal line clearance late in the first half to deny Vitinha. But Bayern dominated the second half and, when Choupo-Moting headed home