ligue1.com takes you through five of the standout moments from PSG's 2019-20 UEFA Champions League season to remember.

18/09/2019: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Real Madrid, Group stage MD1

This was a statement of intent. Kylian Mbappé was out injured and Neymar suspended, so Angel Di Maria — a former Champions League winner with Madrid — took centre stage in PSG's first Group A fixture, and quite brilliantly so.

"Di María has been showing for a year that he’s capable of this kind of performance," said coach Thomas Tuchel. "His left foot is extraordinary."

The Argentina international's first-half brace was topped up by Thomas Meunier's late third as PSG — for whom new signing Idrissa Gueye was also hugely impressive — produced a performance and scoreline that screamed: We are a force to be reckoned with.

Not that coach Thomas Tuchel was having any of that. "If someone asks me if we’re going to win the Champions League, I’m off!" he warned the media in his post-match press conference. "This was really a team performance without and with the ball!"

26/11/2019: Real Madrid 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain, Group stage MD5

If the opening-game win over the 13-time European champions showcased PSG's skill, then the draw they secured in unlikely circumstances in the Spanish capital showed they had the character to go with it.

"We have some things to correct, but the spirit here - the union in our team - is enormous," said Keylor Navas after returning to the club where he had won three successive Champions Leagues and had only left the previous summer. 

The Costa Rica international had frustrated his former teammates, but PSG were still two-nil down going into the final ten minutes. But goals from Kylian Mbappé and substitute Pablo Sarabia ensured PSG a point and top spot in the section.

"The quality of Keylor and the players who came on made the difference," said Tuchel. "You think you can avoid suffering away to Madrid? It's a pitch where few teams win," added midfielder Marco Verratti. "They have a great team with lots of experience and incredible players. We're happy with four wins and a draw here; I think we're on the right path."

11/03/20: Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Borussia Dortmund, Round of 16

The pressure was on. After a 2-1 loss in Germany in the first leg, PSG faced the German side at the Parc des Princes behind closed doors as COVID-19 started to make its gloomy presence felt in France. "We're sad to play without our fans, it's a bizarre situation," said Tuchel, unaware it was a scenario that would become familiar.

Dortmund had been pushed to victory by 80,000 fans at the Signal Iduna Park and Erling Haaland's double strike while Neymar had claimed PSG's goal. A simple consolation it was not, however, especially when the Brazilian headed the Parisians — without the ill Mbappé — into a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes that was then extended just before the break by Juan Bernat.

Despite the best efforts of Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Thorgan Hazard, the PSG rearguard, which conceded just six goals all competition, secured safe passage to the next round. Neymar's post-match tears and the joyous celebrations after the final whistle with the supporters gathered outside the stadium showed just what it meant.

12/08/20: Atalanta 1-2 PSG, Quarter-final

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, was this a drama! After Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue final triumphs, PSG headed to Portugal for the Final 8 mini-tournament where the destination of the European title they cherish so much would be decided.

Atalanta were the surprise packages of the last eight, but the Serie A outfit appeared beatable. "We're confident," said Tuchel. "We have reason to be." Perhaps, but Mario Pasalic's first-half goal looked like it would take them through and leave PSG at the door of the semi-finals once again.

PSG needed a hero, and found one — an unlikely one, it must be said — in Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. "When I came off the bench, I said to myself that we couldn't return to Paris with a team such as that," explained the Cameroon international, who had played just 450 minutes of league football in 2019-20 and had had to sign a two-month extension to his contract that had been allowed to expire in June.

After leaving the bench with 11 minutes to go, the former Mainz and Stoke City player crossed for Marquinhos to level in the last minute and he then found the net himself three minutes into added time to lift the capital club into the semi-finals for the first time in 25 years.

"The final minutes were incredible. I can't describe the emotions, the final whistle was an incredible relief," said Tuchel. You and us both, Thomas.

23/08/20: PSG 0-1 Bayern Munich, Final

The 41st club to play the UEFA Champions League final, and the seventh successive debutant to taste defeat since Borussia Dortmund triumphed on their bow in the showpiece in 1997. Yet it could have been PSG joining Olympique de Marseille's 1992-93 vintage as France's only European champions.

"We just lacked the opening goal, because we had chances," said Tuchel, who saw a league-cup-Champions League treble escape him and go to his Bayern counterpart Hansi Flick. "If we'd scored the first goal, we'd have won 1-0."

There were opportunities. Manuel Neuer denied Neymar and Marquinhos, while Mbappé could have — probably should have — given the French title-holders the lead before half-time in Lisbon. Instead, it was PSG youth academy graduate Kingsley Coman who headed home the only goal of the game just before hour mark as Tuchel's men failed to score —  and set a new competition record — having previously hit the net in 34 consecutive Champions League matches.

"It's an extraordinary feeling, a lot of happiness," said the Paris-born Coman, who played four league games for PSG. "I said before the game my heart was 100% Bayern, because I'm professional, but to see PSG like this does make me sad."

>> MATCH REPORT: Bayern break PSG hearts in Champions League final