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Paris Saint-Germain's quest to lift the elusive Champions League title suffered its latest setback on Tuesday. This time, it was at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, who condemned the visitors to a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie.
All is not lost yet as the Parisians can still turn the tie around in the return leg at home. However, the defeat marked yet another unfavourable result on the road in the knockout stages to a big club.
PSG's consistent disappointment in the competition can be attributed to just that, as the side's inability to conjure positive results in away games has cost them dearly since returning to the competition in 2013. In the following years, the French champions have only picked up wins at the Stamford Bridge in 2016 and lately at the Old Trafford last year. Yet, it took them ten attempts to get to that tally, which is a poor reflection of how much the team lacks in terms of big game mentality.
Following the latest upset in Dortmund, here's a rundown of PSG's poor results on the road to big sides in the knockout stages of Champions League.
7. Barcelona 1-1 PSG (2013)
PSG's first appearance in the Champions League in almost a decade produced largely positive results. They comfortably dispatched Dynamo Kyiv, Dinamo Zagreb and FC Porto to clinch the group and Valencia in the Round of 16 to march all the way to the quarter-finals where they exited the competition after a loss to Barcelona.
Following an entertaining 2-2 stalemate at home, the Parisians snatched a surprise lead at Camp Nou that put them in the driving seat, but the timely introduction of Lionel Messi changed the course as he nicely set up Pedro for a late equaliser that sent the La Liga champions through on away goals.
6. Chelsea 2-0 PSG (2014)
This was the year in which PSG started gaining an unwanted reputation of being 'chokers' for which they're made a mockery of even to this day. Another successful run in the Champions League in 2014 saw the Paris-based outfit once again reach the last 8 where they were up against Chelsea.
Unlike the year before, PSG actually took a healthy 3-1 advantage to Stamford Bridge and also a more serious ambition of a first-ever semi-final appearance. However, Andre Schurrle reduced the gap early on before Demba Ba struck in the dying embers to send PSG packing.
5. Chelsea 2-2 PSG (2015)
For the second year in a row, Chelsea and PSG locked horns but to slightly different outcomes. Both legs ended all square but the latter went ahead this time courtesy to away goals.
PSG followed a 1-1 draw at home with a 2-2 stalemate at the Bridge, with both goals coming towards the tail end of normal time and then the extra-time. Regardless of the scores, they were just content to have secured a quarter-final berth, but remained winless on the road against the proverbial big teams in the Champions League.
4. Barcelona 2-0 PSG (2015)
The Blaugrana were a different juggernaut of a challenge for PSG in comparison to the last time these sides met in 2013. The reason was that this was a Barcelona side on the rise again after a miserable few years in the competition, and had already made a statement with a 3-1 reverse in the group stages.
So when the sides met again that season in the quarters, Luis Suarez and Neymar combined to post a similar scoreline in Paris, before the Brazilian upped the ante with a stellar brace at home to round off a clinical display over two legs.
3. Manchester City 1-0 PSG (2016)
By this time, Paris Saint-Germain were growing desperate to go beyond the last 8, and a tie with a stuttering Manchester City side who hadn't ever progressed to the semi-finals themselves, presented them with a golden opportunity to pull off just that. But yet again, PSG managed to squander that opportunity.
A 2-2 draw at home was followed with more misery on the road when Kevin De Bruyne scored a wonderful free-kick late in the match that eventually proved to be enough to surge ahead at the expense of the Parisiens. Quite unsurprisingly, Laurent Blanc left his role as manager just a few months later.
2. Barcelona 6-1 PSG (2017)
Barcelona and PSG were drawn together in the knockout stages for the third time in five years, but this time around the reigning Ligue 1 champions sent shockwaves across Europe with a 4-0 thumping of Messi and co. Once again, the Parisiens were dreaming of making it big in Europe, only for their away-game blues to strike again. And this time, it was colossal.
Unai Emery's men bottled the resounding lead in a very limp display as Barcelona produced a 'remontada' for the ages. Of course, there were a few controversial calls, but PSG's despairing lack of drive and determination was shocking, to say the least. And just to get you up to speed, they even went on to relinquish the league title to a vibrant AS Monaco.
1. Real Madrid 3-1 PSG (2018)
Unlike any of the matches before, PSG were playing the first leg of a tie away from home which is normally seen as advantageous considering the deciding leg will be in luxury of their home ground. However, much to their dismay, that away tie came at Santiago Bernabeu where a resurgent Real Madrid were plotting a third consecutive European Cup.
PSG did find an early lead, but eventually, let it slip as the home side mounted a resilient comeback in the second half to condemn the visitors to yet more misery on the road in the Champions League.
