Death, taxes and PSG messing it up in Europe.
But the story shouldn’t be that Paris have again failed again on the biggest stage in European football: instead, Borussia Dortmund, rank outsiders, are on their way to Wembley again after a stunning upset of the Qatari football project, winning both legs 1-0 to seal a spot in the UEFA Champions League Final.
It could be a repeat of their previous visit to the showpiece, also in London, if Bayern Munich can keep their side of the deal in Madrid tomorrow.
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Last year, moments after they had thrown away a Bundesliga title on the last day of the season, Edin Terzic emotionally stood before the Yellow Wall. Now, he can do so again with pride.
“This the anti-Super League,” said Craig Foster on Stan Sports.
Mark Bosnich added just how much an upset this was.
“If we were to build a combined team of both sides, with no disrespect to Borussia Dortmund, I think they’d count themselves very fortunate to get three or four players in it. But as a team, phenomenal,” said the ex-Socceroo.
In the end, for all that Luis Enrique has moved away from the Galacticos style of the past, this was exit wasn’t far different from the others.
The one remaining superstar, Kylian Mbappe, was largely shut out of the game by massed Dortmund defenders and, when it came for PSG to do the defending, they missed their assignment and allowed Mats Hummels to score a simple goal from a corner.
Mbappe was ineffectual and now departs to Real Madrid without achieving the state aim of the financiers who brought him to Paris and threw limitless resources at the project.
Dortmund rode their luck in the first half, but were far from passive despite taking a lead into the game and just like last week, PSG had plenty of opportunites but failed to make it count.
After a Goncalo Ramos effort in the opening stages, there were no major chances for the French champions.
Mbappe was unable to make a proper connection when the ball came his way midway through the half. He was nearly punished, too, as Karim Adeyemi embarked on a coast-to-coast run directly afterwards and forced a stunning save from Gigi Donnarumma.
A better contribution from the PSG superstar came on the brink of half time, charging at goal and shooting, only for a deflection to see the ball spin wide with Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel motionless.
Under the circumstances, the way the opener came was horrendous. It was as simple as thy came, a back post corner that saw Donnarumma, Marquinhos and Lucas Beraldo looking on while Hummels, totally unmarked, nodded in.
It was worryingly similar to that goal which, at the same end of the same stadium, had seen Andreas Christiansen give Barcelona a first leg lead in the quarter final. The Parisians got away with that one, but did not learn the lesson.
BVB had already had two scares in the opening two minutes of the second half as Warren Zaire-Emery hit the post and Julian Ryerson smuggled behind under serious pressure, but just as before the break, PSG were wasteful. This time, they were punished for it.
PSG redoubled efforts. Ramos fired over and, from distance, Nuno Mendes clattered a shot off the same post as Zaire-Emery.
After a flurry following the goal, the French side entered the huffing and puffing stage.
Ousmane Dembele was busting his gut to create in attack, but Dortmund, knowing their opponents needed two, withdrew Jadon Sancho for centre back Niklas Sule and were happy to let them come.
Mbappe did get free, this time on the right, but had a shot saved and, beyond that, one of the most intricate teams in world football was reduced to firing crosses at a much taller Dortmund defensive line.
One almost worked: Bradley Barcola stuffed up a header at the back stick and, with Dortmund defenders scrambling, the ball fell to Mbappe. He hit the bar. A minute later, from a stunning long-range strike, Vitinha did the same.
It was the fourth shot off the woodwork of the night, and as metaphors go, difficult to ignore.
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