The trio caused Pep Guardiola’s side numerous problems and all played their part in an impressive 2-0 win. But that didn’t happen often enough and, despite boasting such huge names in their forward line, it never brought PSG Champions League success.

The Galacticos are now gone, with PSG having this summer pursued a new identity based around youth and utilising their own academy rather than buying expensive superstars. But, despite that, the wait for a maiden Champions League win is under threat of being extended for another season. They have won only one of their four games in the competition this term and face a daunting task of trying to record their second win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Mbappe left PSG in the summer to join Real Madrid, marking the end of the era of the Galacticos.

The French side have long dominated their domestic league but even having an array of star-studded talent in their team did not bring success in Europe.

That in part was down to Messi, Neymar and Mbappe not always being available to play together and, when they were, it didn’t click as often as hoped.

The club are now hoping a change in identity will bring them the success in Europe that has eluded them.

That change has been to focus on youth and, in their season opener against Le Havre, they started three teenagers – Ibrahim Mbaye, 16, Warren Zaire-Emery, 18, and Yoram Zague, 18 – and only two players over 25. In the league it is 22-year-old Bradley Barcola who has stepped up in Mbappe’s absence, with the forward having scored 10 goals in 12 games to sit top of the scoring charts.

He has yet to carry that form into the Champions League, however, with no goals in his four European appearances this term. Mbappe is undoubtedly a huge loss to PSG in terms of goals, having scored 256 of them in 308 appearances across all competitions in his six years at the club. France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry said earlier this season that without Mbappe PSG have lost a bit of “magic” but they now have more stability.

There is still plenty of time for results to improve for PSG in Europe and for them to do enough to progress beyond the League phase of the Champions League.

For that to happen, however, they need to start finishing the chances they create but their remaining fixtures will give them hope of doing what is required. After Bayern Munich on Tuesday they have away trips to RB Salzburg and Stuttgart and a home game against an out-of-sorts Manchester City.

They have five points to make up from those remaining fixtures to have a chance of finishing in the top eight, but if they fail to manage that then finishing between ninth and 24th will send them into a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the knockouts.