PSG face rebuild after latest European capitulation

PARIS: Masters of their own downfall once more, Paris Saint-Germain's latest Champions League collapse is likely to set in motion sweeping changes after the club again fell short of its ultimate goal.

For the fourth time in six seasons PSG crashed out in the last 16 of a competition they cherish most, finding more ways to lose a tie they dominated against the 13-time European champions Real Madrid.

While less spectacular than the 2017 implosion against Barcelona at Camp Nou, Wednesday's meek disintegration from a position of strength underlined the enduring fragility of a squad scarred by repeated failures.

Crucially, it was also a defeat that could spell the end of Kylian Mbappe's time in Paris, with his contract up in July and an expected dream move to Madrid appearing all the more probable.

The France star scored in both legs, and another Mbappe masterclass in Spain had Madrid trailing 2-0 on aggregate before Karim Benzema's 17-minute hat-trick floored PSG.

Beaten by one of their own, Paris-born Kingsley Coman, in the 2020 final against Bayern Munich, the trumpeted signing of Lionel Messi was supposed to be the missing piece of the jigsaw.

But it simply hasn't happened for the Argentine, proudly paraded by PSG in December after winning a seventh Ballon d'Or but who has looked a shadow of the player that reigned in Barcelona.

His missed penalty in the first leg ought to have been rendered insignificant, but the nature in which Mbappe, Messi and Neymar were effectively taken out of the game once Madrid equalised on the night at the Santiago Bernabeu ensured it won't be forgotten.

With only the league to focus on for the remainder of the campaign, the next few months will be a time for soul-searching after another season of