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The UEFA Champions League is rightly regarded as the Holy Grail of club football in Europe and winning it confers on a club the status of an elite football institution.
Such is the competition's appeal from a footballing, aesthetics and even commercial perspectives that certain clubs have made it the barometer for judging the success/otherwise of a season.
PSG have once again, despite a huge financial backing, flattered to deceive in the competition and it is expected that Spanish manager Unai Emery will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
The club owned by Qatari sports investment firm; Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSi) have spent heavily on the team investing €238m on players this season including the €222m world record fee paid for Brazilian superstar Neymar and on-loan French tyro Kylian Mbappé (whose transfer could cost the club a total of €190m).
Despite the almost guaranteed win of the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe De La Ligue trophy, the meek surrender to Real Madrid in the second round tie of this season's Champions League is almost certain to be the kiss of death for the former Valencia and Sevilla manager.
The club is reported to have begun the search for a new manager here is a look at five of the top candidates being considered.
#5 Paulo Fonseca
One of the younger coaches making waves in European football and the latest high-profile name to emerge from Europe's current hotbed of coaching talent (Portugal), the 45-year-old is among the outside candidates being considered for the job at the Parc De Princes.
Currently, the manager of Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Fonseca seems to have hit his peak at the team having won the treble in the Eastern European league: League, Cup and Super Cup. Shakthar also lead the Ukranian Premier League after 25 games.
Noted for his attacking style of play, Fonseca who replaced the universally beloved Mircea Lucescu in 2016 generally favours a 4-2-3-1 formation which is basically one striker, three attacking midfielders, a box-to-box midfielder, a holding midfielder, and a back four.
His love for attacking football means he would be willing to find a way to fit in PSG's many attacking talents while not sacrificing defensive solidity.
He is an outside shot and is reportedly also being sought after by Everton the PSG board may have to make its move early.
#4 Massimiliano Allegri
Rumours about the desire of Allegri to experience climes other than Italy have surfaced in recent weeks and have media across Europe buzzing.
The 50-year-old has seen it all in the Serie A and following the two UEFA Champions League final losses to FC Barcelona (2015) and Real Madrid (2017), there is a sense that The Old Lady will not be able to reach the upper echelon of European football without significant investment in the squad.
This is something the club is unable to do on the levels of the Real Madrid and Manchester City at the moment.
With a fourth consecutive Serie A title almost in the bag, Allegri is ripe for movement to another league and the PSG job would be one of the more tempting offers he will receive.
Renowned for his tactical acumen and ability to get the most out of limited players/squads, the Italian would find at PSG a club willing to equip him with the tools needed to finally get "Old Big Ears" as the UCL trophy is known to the club's billionaire owners.
With the quality of the squad currently available and the means to acquire even more players, PSG is said to have shown a strong interest in the Italian tactician and it would be a good fit for both club and manager if an arrangement could be made.
#3 Carlo Ancelotti
The whispers about the Ancelotti to back to PSG move have grown into something that even the hierarchy of the club would be advised to pay heed to.
A man who knows the club well, having managed there between 2011-2013 wherein 2013, he delivered the club's first Ligue 1 title in 2013.
There are many reasons why a move for 58-year-old will make sense for the club but there are compelling reasons why this move should not happen.
Ever since he moved on from AC Milan in 2009, the Italian famed for his raised eyebrow move has been conducting his own personal tour of Europe’s finest clubs collecting titles and money from some of European football’s old and new royalty in the form of Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
In this period, he has cemented his reputation as a coach who understands the demands of playing in and winning the UEFA Champions League while also gaining a somewhat unfair reputation for not being so good at the weekly slog of a league run.
He can be the man to turn the fortunes of the club around or given how his career has panned out in the recent past, he may just be a sentimental choice that creates more of problems instead of solutions.
#2 Thomas Tuchel
The former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund coach is currently unemployed after a falling out with the Dortmund hierarchy over transfer related issues at the end of last season.
An astute tactician who is being linked to major jobs like Arsenal, Chelsea among others, the German favours a similar style to that of his predecessor at Borussia Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp.
Tuchel likes his team to be daring, committing bodies forward with high pressing and aggressive, dynamic football.
Unlike the current Liverpool manager, Tuchel is arguably more versatile tactically as he is brilliant at alternating formations with increasing regularity.
In the fiery German coach, PSG will be getting a man who is desperate to prove himself on the big stages and who has shown that given the right kind of support, he can get a team to play the vibrant, attacking style of play the fans are desperate to see.
The Parisians are clearly willing to spend money to compete, something the Dortmund board led by Joachim Hans-Watzke and Michel Zorc refused or were unable to do and this should convince Tuchel to sign up for the project.
#1 Antonio Conte
The high maintenance Italian is almost out of Stamford Bridge following the abject defence of the Premier League title that was won at a canter last season.
Failure to go past Barcelona in the Champions League coupled with his constant moaning and issues with the Chelsea board over transfers have created a strained and rather poisonous atmosphere at the club.
Credit where it's due; he did an exceptional job with the squad he met on the ground at the club following the disaster that was Jose Mourinho's last season at the club.
A master tactician who is adept at forging teams that know how to win league titles, his record in cup competitions particularly the UEFA Champions League is rather poor as he is yet to even make the semi-finals of the competition.
Despite this, it is said that the PSG board sees him as the ideal candidate and are willing to back him with the funds he believes that the Chelsea board should have given to him.
How he will manage the big stars at the club given his issues with players like Diego Costa at Chelsea will be one of the more interesting sub-plots if he eventually takes over the PSG job.
