Still his shadow will loom large across the PSG team and with good reason. The Brazilian maestro has been desperately trying to muscle his way into the prestigious territory that Ronaldo and Lionel Messi currently occupy as the world’s top two footballers – and this was his chance to really crash the party. Seeing PSG into the next round of the tournament with a match-winning performance would definitely have shaken things up and gotten onlookers reconsidering football’s established hierarchy. Now his teammates will have to fill the void. With Kylian Mbappé out too, it will fall to Edinson Cavani to deliver the goods. No pressure then.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Ronaldo is about as likely to relinquish his crown as he is to suddenly develop a taste for fast food. The Portuguese, who is hoping to guide Madrid to a third consecutive UEFA Champions League title, is the tournament’s top scorer this season with nine goals and will be eyeing up a dazzling display of his own.

It’s all set up to be a sensational showdown of epic proportions between two extraordinary teams. Ahead of their upcoming battle for supremacy at the Parc des Princes, we’ve sized up the two star players...