For Paris Saint-Germain, it has become a crushingly familiar story: suffering a premature exit in the tournament that means more to them than any other.
The French giants' Champions League hopes are over for another season, a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich meaning one of the world's wealthiest clubs will once again be unable to call themselves the kings of Europe.
Wednesday's defeat may not have been the emotional sucker-punch of previous exits — think 2017, when Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit by beating PSG 6-1 at Camp Nou, or even last year when PSG were 2-0 up on aggregate with half an hour to play at Real Madrid only to concede three goals in 17 minutes to Karim Benzema.
But the impact will still be keenly felt. Here, The Athletic looks at the possible effects on and off the field.
How much is Champions League prize money worth?
A club entering the Champions League group stage is awarded €15.64million (£13.9m; $16.4m). They then receive €2.8m per group stage win and €930,000 for a draw.
PSG won four times and drew twice on their way to the round of 16, earning €13m. Qualifying for the next stage earned them €9.6m so, before a ball was even kicked against Bayern Munich, PSG had accumulated €38.3m in prize money.
But it could have been so much more. Qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals earns a bonus €10.6m payment, a semi-final spot is worth an additional €12.5m, and reaching the final provides a cash injection of €15.5m. The club that wins the tournament can expect to receive a €4.5m bonus payment.
Rodrygo celebrates with the trophy at the end of the Champions League final in 2022 (Photo: Cesare Purini/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
That is not all. A spot in the UEFA Super Cup — a game between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League — is worth €3.5m. If you win the Super Cup, the bonus is €1m, while winning the FIFA Club World Cup (a tournament played between the various continental champions) banks a cool €4.6m.
In total, that is a possible €52.2m PSG have missed out on in prize money alone.
Is that really so much for a club like PSG?
Well, no. As they are owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a subsidiary of the state-run sovereign-wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, missing out on that kind of money ultimately does not make a great dent in the club's finances.
It would, however, have been useful from a financial fair play (FFP) perspective.
PSG had to pay UEFA €20m in 2014 in the first round of FFP cases with UEFA and, in September, they were ruled to have failed to comply with a break-even agreement between 2018 and 2022.
They were ordered to pay an unconditional €10m — either directly or through revenue earned from involvement in UEFA club competition — with €55m depending on compliance with future targets over a three-year period.
Not the biggest sums, then, but every little helps.
Where is the cost then?
Primarily, in reputation. A squad loaded with star names should not be failing to reach the last eight of the Champions League, but it is becoming an increasingly familiar story.
Since the 2012-13 season, PSG have only reached the semi-finals twice and the final once (2019-20). Tonight's round of 16 exit is the fifth time they have departed before the quarter-finals in the past seven years.
PSG's powerbrokers know it is only by winning Europe's elite club competition that their grand sporting project will truly have its sporting ambitions fulfilled, despite the presence of marquee names such as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi having already taken the club to a new level in terms of popular following.
Post-World Cup, where Mbappe and Messi dominated a France-Argentina final and Achraf Hakimi helped Morocco reach the semi-final, it was hoped the second half of PSG's season would be one to remember.
Instead, they once again cracked when the pressure was on. Anything that follows – including, in all likelihood, a ninth Ligue 1 title in 11 years, will be scant consolation.
So what happens now?
Attention is likely to turn to their head coach, Christophe Galtier, and Luis Campos, their football advisor who appointed Galtier following Mauricio Pochettino's departure last July.
Mbappe, whose contract expires in 2025 having signed a new three-year deal last summer, will want to cement his status as the best player in the world. You can already argue he is ahead of any of his rivals, but the Champions League will elude him for at least another season.
The good news for PSG is that after losing the first leg in February, Mbappe made it clear his future at the club is not tied in with success in Europe.
“If I linked my future to the Champions League, without wishing to show a lack of respect to the club, I would have left a long time ago,” the 24-year-old said. “I don't think this match will have an impact. I am here and I am very happy to be here.
“I am not thinking about anything other than making PSG successful.”
Kylian Mbappe has insisted his future at PSG is not tied to Champions League success (Photo: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
The cushion of his contract and the recent remarks he has made will be a tonic for those inside the club, but continued failures in Europe will only hasten his departure.
Messi is reaching the latter stages of his career and uncertainty lingers around his future. His deal expires in the summer, although he is willing to extend his stay in the French capital.
No team has a divine right to win the tournament, but one as expensively assembled — even if several of the players were signed as free agents — from a salary perspective should not be eliminated without a whimper.
(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)