‘Lionel Messi plus Neymar plus Kylian Mbappe made everyone anticipate an enhanced version of all three, but you need a structure behind them. They were all born to be number one’ Mauricio Pochettino on his key Paris Saint-Germain challenge

Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain.

Signing three of the planet’s best attackers for a run at the Champions League sounds like the stuff of Football Manager, but for Mauricio Pochettino, that was the reality during his stint at Paris Saint-Germain.

The French side’s frontline of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe was - on paper, at least - one of the most potent attacking tridents to ever be placed together, but the reality of the situation was something different.