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The footballing world gasped as Lionel Messi joined Paris St-Germain.
It was assumed that Messi and Barcelona had an unbreakable bond, but the Catalan club's financial situation dictated otherwise and it led to the formation of a star- studded attacking trio.
Despite winning the league, the trio struggled to perform as a cohesive unit that maximized each other's talents.
This ended with Real Madrid winning the last-16 match.
In 180 minutes, Paris Saint-Germain only scored two goals, both of which came from the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe.
The tactical set-up was a major contributor to this, with a reluctance from the Argentine coach to deviate from a 4-3-3 system, leaving 35-year-old Messi and 30-year-old Neymar in the wide forward roles.
What has changed since he left?
Is the summer arrival of former Lille and Nice coach Christophe Galtier going to end their wait for European success?
With 32 goals and assists between them so far this season, Messi, Neymar and Mbappe are in a league of their own.
After six games this season, the two superstars have 22 goals and 36 assists, compared to just 36 in all of last season.
Their wing-back style meshes well with the system. The two athletes who excel when allowed to charge forward and carry the ball into the final third are Nuno and Achraf.
With three centre-backs behind them, freeing them from deeper defensive responsibilities is possible.
There is a double pivot in front of the three center-backs. Marco Verratti, who has been with the club for a long time, is likely to be the first choice with new signing Vitinha.
Verratti is given the responsibility to dictate the majority of play from a deeper position while Vitinha is encouraged to push higher up the pitch.
The front three are still connected to the rest of the team.
The wing-backs are allowed to get high up the pitch, but Galtier wants them to stay wide and not move infield.
The players in the wing-backs are given the freedom to move around.
The width of the wing-backs makes it possible for the star attackers to play closer to each other.
The three players have a lot of technical talent.
The top two assist makers from all of Europe's top five leagues are Messi and Neymar.
There are phases of play when the opposition defence draws in towards them because of the high level of central combination play. They can exploit the space on the flanks.
The formation has made it more difficult to attack. When the opposition moves break down, the two players are often positioned in a central position.
The result is that they pick up the ball in the middle of the field and quickly launch accurate passes to find Mbappe.
Their pressing has changed with Galtier's tactics.
Instead of asking the front three to cover large distances in the past, they are now only used to pressing opposition centre-backs and the defensiveMidfielder.
The full-backs are being pressed by the wing-backs. This helps conserve the energy of the older players for their on-ball activities and strengthens the defensive structure of Paris Saint-Germain.
Hakimi is pressing high from the right wing-back and disrupting attacks for Paris Saint-Germain.
If the opposition overloads a flank with two players, the wing-back and wide centre-back will be able to cover them, rather than having to track the two forwards back into their own half.
The biggest test yet for Galtier will be on Tuesday when they host the Bianconeri.
The structure for the front three has been provided by Galtier. It's up to the people to do it.
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