Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain face off Wednesday in the opening leg of their Champions League semifinal, with each seeking its first title in club soccer’s most prestigious international competition. City has advanced this far only once before, in 2016. PSG, which had a recent history of breakthrough expectations ending with spectacular collapses, reached the final for the first time last year. The match is being played under continuing fallout from the failed attempt by 12 clubs, one of which was City, to break away from the Champions League and form the Super League.
Paris Saint Germain features two of the tournament's top three scorers, Kylian Mbappé (eight goals) and Neymar (six).