Real Madrid vs PSG tale of the tape

For years, Real Madrid have been world football’s big spenders… but has the emergence of Paris Saint-Germain changed all that for good?

The Spaniards are the Champions League elite, spending big to secure a record 10 titles, but now there’s a new pretender chasing their crown.

They meet on Wednesday in the last 16 of the competition in an old vs new showdown… but off the pitch, how do the two giants of world football shape up? 

European Cup history

Real Madrid

The best of the best, quite simply. Under the stewardship of Zinedine Zidane last season, Los Blancos recorded their 12th European Cup – otherwise known as the Duodecima. No club is close to Real’s success, and they are also the only side ever to record back-to-back Champions League titles.

Best ever finish: Winners x12 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017)

Paris Saint-Germain

The French side are yet to record a Champions League title, although you wouldn’t bet against them doing so in the next few years. Winning Ligue 1 has almost become a given for the oil-rich club, and now they’re putting all their eggs in a Champions League-shaped basket. They’ve spent big on players like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and it’s all for one reason – they want to lift that elusive trophy.

Best ever finish: Quarter-finals (1995, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) 

Cristiano Ronaldo is hoisted above his team-mates after helping his side to the 2017 trophy

Trophy count 

Real Madrid

We’ve already discussed their 12 European Cup triumphs, so let’s turn our attention to La Liga. Clearly, they aren’t lacking in replica versions of that in their trophy cabinet either. This season looks to be Barcelona’s title to lose, but they’ve still got some way to go to catch up with the might of Real.

The Bernabeu outfit have 33 league titles, ranging from 1932 to 2017, as well as an impressive 19 Copa del Rey successes. Add to that 10 Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Cups and four UEFA Super Cups… and you’ve got yourself the recipe for success.

Paris Saint-Germain

Of course, it could be argued that there isn’t as much competition for PSG in the French league as there is for, say, Manchester United in the Premier League. But having said that, it’s no easy feat to have won six Ligue 1 titles. 

The majority of those have come in recent years – they’ve won the league in three of the previous four seasons. There’s a record 11 French Cup triumphs in there too, but again – it’s a case of the best is yet to come for PSG.

Legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after helping PSG win the 2012-13 Ligue 1 title

Record transfer fees

Real Madrid

5: Kaka (from AC Milan) – £56million

4: James Rodriguez (from Monaco) – £63m

3: Zinedine Zidane (from Juventus) – £69m

2: Cristiano Ronaldo (from Manchester United) – £80m

1: Gareth Bale (from Tottenham) – £89m 

Gareth Bale is Real Madrid’s most expensive signing, costing a whopping £89million in 2013

Paris Saint-Germain

5: Angel di Maria (from Manchester United) – £44m 

4: David Luiz (from Chelsea) – £50m

3: Edinson Cavani (from Napoli) – £57m 

2: Kylian Mbappe (from Monaco) – £166m*

1: Neymar (from Barcelona) – £198m

*Mbappe is currently on loan, with the permanent deal to be completed in summer

Neymar blew Bale’s fee out of the water, arriving at Paris Saint-Germain for almost £200m

Top earners

Real Madrid 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo is the top earner at the Bernabeu, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The ex-United man is reported to be on close to £600,000 a week, with Gareth Bale in second on £475,000. Other stars of the show are Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema, all on upwards of a quarter-of-a-million a week.

Paris Saint-Germain

Yes, you guessed it… following his near-£200m move to France, Neymar is the big dog for wages at the Parc des Princes. He is on half a million a week but, incredibly, PSG as a whole have nine of the entire league’s top 10 earners. In fact, only Monaco’s Radamel Falcao makes it into the top 13, while the rest is occupied by the mega-stars of the capital. Cavani, Mbappe, Thiago Silva and Di Maria make up the top five.

Neymar is the top earner at PSG, but his team-mates fill nine of the top 10 spots in Ligue 1

Revenue

For years, there was no competition in this category – it was Madrid, Madrid, Madrid in terms of earnings, sponsorship deals and shirt sales. After all, they had all the best players, the Galacticos. Nowadays, it’s somewhat different, mainly following the arrival of the likes of Neymar and Mbappe – but it’s been coming for a while.

In 2012, as reported by ESPN, PSG’s annual revenue was €225m, nothing compared to Madrid’s €512m, while their wage bill was also over €100m less.

In recent years, Real Madrid’s revenue has continued to grow, reaching €671m in 2016-17, but PSG have been on the charge.

Following the arrival of their oil-rich owners, the French club doubled their revenue very quickly, raising plenty of questions with Financial Fair Play.

Their total income peaked in the season before last at €527m, before dropping to €486m last year.

Worldwide appeal 

Real Madrid’s victory in this category comes primarily down to history. Clearly, they’ve been more successful for longer, therefore attracting plenty of fans from around the world.

That said, PSG’s incredible rise on the pitch has tallied with their off-field improvements too. While they won’t reach Real’s level for a long time – or perhaps ever – there certainly won’t be as big a gap in five years’ time.

PSG are the up-and-coming kid brother of Real Madrid, the one everyone’s talking about, trying to steal all the limelight after emerging from the shadows.

A victory at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night would be the perfect start to their attempt at world domination.

So much money has gone into this plan, that it is nearly impossible to imagine them not bettering their Champions League quarter-final best in the next few seasons.

All Real Madrid can do is keep them down for now. 

Real Madrid have far more followers on Twitter than PSG, with nearly 30 million and counting

PSG, meanwhile – the new kids on the block – have just over 6m but they are catching up