France, March 9 -- Well, what now? Squillions spent on drafting the glitterati into Paris Saint-Germain only to collapse again in the last-16 of the Champions League.

In British football parlance, it's called being Spursy - a nod to Tottenham Hotspur who seem to fail when success seems so very possible.

In France, PSG can run away with Ligue 1 but in the Champions League - the competition craved by the Qatari paymasters - desolation has become the default setting.

This was PSG's fifth exit in the last-16 in seven years.

On the upside, when they have progressed, they reached the semis and the final.

In 2022, PSG went into the second leg of their last-16 game against Real Madrid with a one-goal advantage. At one point they led 2-0 on a...