It's time to consider Paris Saint-Germain as Champions League favourites

In order to be the best, you've got to beat the best, goes the tiresome old adage - which is not even entirely true in many cases.

Italy were deserving World Cup champions in 2006 for example, although they only had to face Ghana, the United States, the Czech Republic, Australia and Ukraine before eventually meeting Germany and finalists France.

So, perhaps in order to be the best, you've got to beat or not meet the best, is more accurate. We're certainly getting closer...

The Champions League is a different animal altogether, and a freaky pattern has emerged over the past decade. In fact, eight out of the last nine Champions Leagues have been won by either Bayern Munich, or the team which knocked Bayern out on their way to glory.

Real Madrid were the fortunate anomaly in 2015/16, scraping to penalty shootout success against rivals Atletico Madrid in the final - the team which beat Die Roten in the semis.

So, let's get this right, once and for all. In order to be the best, you've got to beat Bayern. There, I think we've cracked it.

So, with that newly-formed adage in mind, it's time to recognise Paris Saint-Germain's place among footballing royalty. Whether we like it or not, there may well be a new name on the Champions League trophy this season.

And for all the ridicule and derision we've thrown the French giants' way in recent years, we have to admit that they might just be in the best position to conquer Europe for the first time in their history. It is hard to admit, too.

For PSG are so easily hatable. In fact, their star forward Neymar is the perfect personification of his club: Insanely talented and indisputably good at football - but infinitely hatable and impossible to like.

Their mocking of child Erling Haaland and his celebration in last year's European round of 16 made the entire group appear very petty, and more interested in settling scores than actually possessing the tunnel vision for success.

Petty, 'tinpot' actions for a team hoping to cement their place among football's elite.

That group was forced to swallow their medicine at the end of the campaign, when ex-PSG star Kingsley Coman scored the winning goal for Bayern in the Champions League final, breaking Parisian hearts.

Tuesday evening's 1-0 home defeat, but overall success on away goals over the reigning champions was a moment of personal and collective growth for the French giants. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were playing on a planet of their own at times, torturing a Bayern defence that was crying out for help from those ahead of them.

Even if PSG failed to score on the night, it was that lethal duo's combination of endless trickery and blistering pace that won the tie for the hosts. The knowledge that the unstoppable pair only needed an inch of space to wreak havoc meant that Bayern kept the handbrake on for large periods of that second leg, despite requiring another goal.

And just as we spectators spent the majority of the match mesmerised by the Roadrunner speed of Mbappe and the dazzling footwork of Neymar (and his freakish ability to hit the woodwork), the Bayern defence were too preoccupied to notice the presence of Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler.

Most importantly, this luxury castle was not built on sand. Behind the forward line lay a strong, stable and mobile midfield, organised off the ball and well-drilled to overturn possession and free their superstars.

Idrissa Gueye never stopped closing down opponents and biting into tackles, while Leandro Paredes filled the boots of Marco Verratti admirably. The last lines of defence repelled almost everything that came their way, with makeshift centre-back Danilo Pereira filling in for the talismanic Marquinhos.

It was a heroic, hearty, spirited effort from a club which many would claim has had its heart and spirit torn from within it over the past decade or so. And that change has come with the addition of Mauricio Pochettino - the man who has brought this all together.

Less has been made of PSG's injury list, but of the back four which ended the game on Tuesday, only one can be considered a recognised, top-class defender. Pochettino has turned this group from a bunch of caricatures and nearly men, and created a bond that is not built on spite and hatred with a chip on their shoulder.

Hell, they're almost likeable as a team. Almost.

There is genuine love between those players, shown by the passionate celebrations of Neymar and Paredes at the final whistle. They know that they took a huge scalp in this Champions League quarter-final, and it should have given them the confidence to go face to face with any other team in this competition.

No club which boasts the talents of Mbappe and Neymar, with the quality of a coach like Pochettino, and which has just beaten the current reigning European champions can ever consider themselves to be the underdogs - and this group seems to have finally accepted the lofty expectations.

It's time to deliver.