UEFA Champions League: Will new format help Kylian Mbappe-less PSG's chances of winning it all?

French giants made a semifinal run in the final year of the old setup

By Jonathan Johnson Sep 14, 2024 at 8:08 pm ET• 3 min read

Like everyone else this season, Paris Saint-Germain are preparing to enter the new-look UEFA Champions League next week when the reformatted league phase gets underway. Luis Enrique led the French giants to a surprise semifinal last campaign yet it felt underwhelming given the way that Les Parisiens lost out to eventual beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund. With Kylian Mbappe now gone but PSG looking more fluent than they have done in a while, how the Ligue 1 champions fare in Europe will be one of this term's most intriguing continental subplots.

So, will the new UCL format help or hurt Paris? First of all, a reminder of who they will be up against between now and next January: Girona (home), Arsenal (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Atletico Madrid (home), Bayern Munchen (away), Red Bull Salzburg (away), Manchester City (home) and VfB Stuttgart (away).

Here's how the competition's new format could impact them:

Ligue 1

The seemingly endless debate regarding whether or not French clubs can truly compete in European competition suffered last year as Ligue 1 provided one of the most unexpectedly competitive showings in the UEFA coefficient scramble. PSG and Olympique de Marseille enjoyed deep runs in the Champions League and Europa League respectively yet OM's Championnat drop-off means that Roberto De Zerbi has inherited a squad which is not qualified for continental action. Yet this, combined with a challenging but not impossible UCL path towards the round of 16, should actually benefit Paris. Luis Enrique's men should be challenged regularly by Marseille who can focus on domestic matters under their new Italian boss which -- in theory -- should keep PSG competitive during what used to be a lull period over the winter break until the Knockout Phase of the Champions League got underway.