Man City vs. PSG: How Qatar's European champions view Abu Dhabi's Premier League woes

For the past decade and a half, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been grouped together as the great, state-fuelled twin threat to Europe's soccer elite and its fabled competitive balance. City's Abu Dhabi ownership and PSG's Qatari powerbrokers have changed the trajectory of two previously big but not consistently successful clubs beyond all recognition, following their respective buyouts in 2008 and 2011.

Predominantly under Pep Guardiola - who will return to the Etihad Stadium stands tonight for the first time since stepping down at the end of last season - and with the help of managerial predecessors Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, City have won 26 trophies since Mancini ended their 36-year wait for a major honour with the 2011 FA Cup. Eleven of the past 13 Ligue 1 titles have gone to PSG.

Each club threw billions at reaching the top of the European mountain. It happened for City in 2023, their maiden Champions League success completing Guardiola's crowning achievement of a treble.

PSG arrive in Manchester as back-to-back and reigning European champions, having become only the second club after Real Madrid to retain the trophy this century.