Paris Saint-Germain held a 1-0 lead when they entered the Bernabeu in Madrid, but were sent off by Los Blancos in the round of 16 after Karim Benzema netted three goals in the second half. The Real Madrid star was a huge success for his club, leading the charge in the 3-1 victory that sent PSG out of the competition. The club’s early exit from the Champions League is more important than some might think as it all confirms that Kylian Mbappe will leave this summer.

Any chance PSG had of convincing Mbappe to extend his stay in the French capital has just vanished after their devastating loss to Real Madrid. The fact that they were knocked out by Los Blancos is particularly chilling given that it’s well known to be Mbappe’s desired destination. Paris rejected a $200m offer from Real Madrid for Mbappe’s services this summer, to continue and be beaten by them in the Champions League Round of 16. Now they are set to lose Mbappe on a free transfer with no profit. for his departure and without the coveted Champions League trophy.

Mbappe’s contract with PSG is due to expire in June when he will be free to open negotiations with any club, who won’t have to pay the French club a transfer fee for the would-be free agent.

Mbappe’s production will be nearly impossible to replace no matter how much money the Parisian giants are willing to throw at the players this summer. So far they have failed to convince the 23-year-old to extend his stay with the club, and after Wednesday’s defeat it seems almost certain that Mbappe is destined for Real Madrid. While there are a handful of options the club can tackle, they will surely regret doing more during their Champions League run this season.

Sure, PSG are brimming with talent beyond Mbappe, but they failed to gel enough to see the club achieve their ultimate goal. As Mbappe closes in on the exit door, PSG will have to look to continue their drive towards a Champions League trophy with a different approach to the striker.

That said, they will still have to overtake Real Madrid in the competition next season which will be made much more difficult by the expected addition of Mbappe.

This season for PSG, Mbappe has scored 24 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions. Paris have no other player to score double-digit goals this season, with Lionel Messi second with 7 goals, only 2 of them in Ligue 1, the other five in the Champions League, although he hasn’t failed to score on Wednesday. Danilo Pereira and Mauro Icardi each scored 5 goals, while Neymar, Ander Herrera and Idrissa Gueye all scored 4.

Paris appear on pace to win their fourth Ligue 1 trophy in the last five seasons and their eighth since 2013. They are currently 12 points clear of OGC Nice in their first 27 league games, although this is not the competition they cared about the most. by winning. Regardless of the club’s rates in the league, Mbappe’s future was never going to be dictated by a Ligue 1 trophy, as a Champions League title was their clear target from the start of the season.