Pep Guardiola denied that a new order is about to take control of European football.
But he expressed the view that the rise of new clubs to threaten the stranglehold of the usual old names is a good thing for the Champions League.
The first semi-final of the competition will be between two clubs who were both formed within the last 50 years and which have one semi-final appearance between them - PSG reached the same stage in 1995, while RB Leipzig’s only previous appearance saw them eliminated at the group stage.
If Manchester City can beat Lyon in tomorrow night’s final quarter-final, and then see off the winner of tonight’s Barcelona v Bayern Munich clash, there will be two first-time finalists meeting at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light a week on Sunday.
PSG were formed in 1970, while their opponents have had a spectacular rise to prominence fuelled by the Red Bull drinks company since they were founded in 2009.
City are actually the oldest club left in the competition, having been founded in 1894, five years before Barca and six years ahead of Bayern.
They have been reinvigorated by Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008 and since qualifying for the Champions League for the first time three years later, they have been involved every year since.
But their best showing was under Manuel Pellegrini in 2016 when they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the semi-final.
But with at least one new club sure to be in the final – and Real Madrid and Juventus falling by the wayside - Guardiola was asked whether this season represents a sea-change in European football.
The City boss said that anyone writes off the traditional elite of European football is doing so at their peril.
“The ‘early’ clubs will always be there – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the clubs in England and France,” he said.
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But he expressed the opinion that the Champions League is healthier for the fact that clubs like PSG, RB Leipzig and City have risen to take on the hegemony of the traditional super clubs.
“We need this kind of competition and in just one game absolutely everything can happen,” he said.
“It’s difficult to beat big teams home and away, but in one game anything can happen.
“That’s what we will try tomorrow, to beat a good club like Lyon that has really good experience in the Champions League.”
