Paris Saint-Germain 2020

Coach: Thomas Tuchel

Paris Saint-Germain reached the club's first-ever Champions League final in 2020, an unusual campaign compressed into a single-venue knockout format in Lisbon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, played behind closed doors in empty stadiums throughout the latter rounds. Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, two of the most expensive transfers in football history, led an attacking line that eliminated Atalanta and RB Leipzig in dramatic late fashion en route to the final, but were ultimately beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich through a Kingsley Coman goal, with Neymar in particular squandering several presentable chances that might have changed the outcome. The final defeat continued a recurring pattern of near-misses for PSG's ownership project since Qatari investment transformed the club from a mid-table Ligue 1 side into one of European football's biggest spenders from 2011 onward, with the Champions League trophy specifically becoming the explicit, publicly stated target of that investment without success for well over a decade. Thomas Tuchel's tactical setup, built around a front three of Mbappé, Neymar and Ángel Di María, showed PSG could compete at the very top level, even as the ultimate prize continued to elude the club.