Lego classic bricks, the Barbie doll and the Rubik’s Cube have been named among the top toys of all time by retailer Hamleys.
The boardgame Monopoly, the Tamagotchi virtual pet, which Hamleys described as a “symbol of 90s tech toy obsession”, and the Action Man doll also make the top 10, as does the Teletubby doll, the Furby, the Frozen singing doll and Nintendo Game Boy.
The toy store said it compiled its “hero” 100 list with the help of top buyers to mark its 265th birthday, and included toys that had cultural impact, enduring popularity and historical significance.
It described Lego – first released in 1958 – as “timeless, creative, and a global phenomenon”, noting it had gone on to span toys, films and theme parks.
A Rubik’s Cube (Alamy/PA)
It said more than one billion Barbie dolls had been sold across the world since its first release in 1959, making it a “pop culture icon” across the decades.
More than 500 million Rubik’s Cubes had been sold since 1974, making it the world’s best-selling puzzle toy.
However Hamleys said “eternal classics” such as the hula hoop, spinning tops and marbles were still bought around the world today, despite them being among the first toys sold by the store when William Hamley opened its doors in 1760.
Victoria Kay, head buyer at Hamleys, said: “Once you start looking at this, it turns rapidly into a nostalgia-fest – even for toys from four or five years ago.
“My personal favourites are Sindy doll – I was always a Sindy girl as she was a cool British icon. I also adored Glo Worm, even though I was maybe a bit old for it and Simon felt like properly, cutting edge, advanced technology when it came out – it was literally the soundtrack of Christmas in the 80s.”
Senior Hamleys buyer Karen Dennett said she particularly remembered toys where stocks were under severe pressure due to unforeseen demand and unusually had to be restricted to one per customer.
She said: “It was mayhem at times with toys like the Frozen Singing ‘Let it Go’ Doll – we were getting them rush air freighted in to try to satisfy demand.
“I remember me and my brother both getting a Rubik’s Cube for Christmas. He solved it super quick, but I was nowhere near solving it, so I remember peeling the coloured stickers off to allow me to look like I had managed it.”
Ms Kay said it was difficult to determine what made a toy popular, but said: “You can never underestimate the power of togetherness created around some of the big-sellers – those toys that bring people of all ages together – get families around a table talking, playing, challenging, maybe even cheating. Monopoly would be nothing without the competitive family battles that emerge.
More targeted and less aggressive radiotherapy for low-risk breast cancer could spare thousands of women from the harsh side-effects of the treatment, a trial has found.
The technique, which has since been adopted by the NHS, has “transformed” the way the disease is treated in its early stages, researchers said.
More than 37,000 women have radiotherapy for breast cancer in the UK every year.
The treatment uses radiation to kill cancer cells and is usually given after surgery to reduce the risk of the disease coming back.
However, side-effects can include changes in breast size and shape, swelling in the arms or breast, and pain.
The Import Low trial, led by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the University of Cambridge, found limiting radiation to the tumour area, rather than treating the whole breast, was just as effective.
The study included 2,018 women across 30 radiotherapy centres in the UK, who were monitored for 10 years after treatment.
It compared three radiotherapy approaches; whole-breast, partial-breast and a reduced-dose.
After a decade, cancer recurrence rates in the group given partial radiotherapy was 3%, the same proportion as those who had been treated with a more aggressive approach.
Patients who had targeted radiotherapy were also less likely to experience long-term changes in breast appearance.
Some 15% reported noticeable changes at five years compared with 27% in the whole-breast radiotherapy group.
Dr Anna Kirby, consultant clinical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and reader in breast cancer radiotherapy at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “The long-term results of this study confirm that a less aggressive approach, limiting radiotherapy to the tumour rather than the whole breast, is just as effective as traditional whole-breast radiotherapy.
“Patients receiving partial-breast radiotherapy experience fewer side-effects while maintaining excellent cancer control.”
Charlotte Coles, a professor of breast cancer clinical oncology at the University of Cambridge, honorary clinical oncology consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and chief investigator of the Import Low study, said the trial has “transformed” how early breast cancer is treated.
Following the study, which is published in the Lancet Oncology, partial-breast radiotherapy has been integrated into NHS treatment guidelines.
It is hoped that more than 9,000 women in the UK could benefit from more targeted treatment.
“By targeting the area around the tumour, rather than the whole breast, we have demonstrated that patients can achieve the same outstanding long-term outcomes with fewer complications,” Prof Coles said.
“This approach is now widely adopted across the NHS, sparing thousands of women from unnecessary radiation exposure.
“The results of this study have not only shaped UK clinical practice but also informed international guidelines, ensuring that women worldwide benefit from this personalised, evidence-based treatment.”
Hilary Stobart, now 70, was diagnosed with ER-positive breast cancer in December 2008, with a 2cm tumour in her left breast.
Ms Stobart, who was 54 at the time, was offered the chance to take part in the trial after surgery and was treated with partial radiotherapy.
“I had three weeks of radiotherapy, but suffered no side-effects, other than some soreness in my breast and nipple in the first few weeks,” she said.
“Ten years on, I am doing fine. I have no side-effects and no recurrence of disease.
Hilary Stobart, now 70, took part in the Import Low trial (Hilary Stobart/PA)
“For me personally, I am very thankful to have received the lowest dose of radiotherapy.
“Whilst I may have had some niggling worries in the early days, having seen the results of the trial, I feel positive and optimistic now. I know that I was lucky enough back then to have had the best treatment, a treatment that other women will be routinely offered now.”
Dr Fay Cafferty, lead statistician at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, added that the findings are “crucial in reinforcing the long-term safety and effectiveness of partial-breast radiotherapy”.
“Long-term data is vital to ensure we know there’s no greater risk of breast cancer returning after this targeted radiotherapy treatment,” she said.
“This latest analysis confirms that partial breast radiotherapy remains a safe and effective treatment option, supporting its continued adoption as the standard of care in the UK and globally.”
It’s a list that will take you back to your childhood, whenever that was: train sets, Tonka Trucks, Top Trumps and Tamagotchis have all been named among the top 100 toys of all time.
Drawn up by buyers at the retailer Hamleys to mark its 265th anniversary, the selection includes both hardy perennials and passing playground crazes, all of which have appeared on the toy shop’s shelves, and children’s Christmas lists, over that time.
A 1965 Tammy doll. Photograph: Teenage doll/Alamy
About a fifth of the picks are dolls and action figures – Sindy, launched in 1963, and Barbie, from 1959, have aged well, while the Tammy doll is no longer with us. The category continues to grow, with the global doll market worth a reported £9.8bn last year.
Among the classic toys on the list are hula hoops and marbles, which were some of the first toys sold by Hamleys when it opened its original shop in London in 1760. The game of marbles dates back thousands of years, and they are known to have been made commercially since the 1840s.
Recent years have seen electronic toys grow in popularity and the list traces the trend from some of the earliest versions, including the first Scalextricin 1957, to 2017’s Nintendo Switch, via the Speak and Spell and the memory game Simon, both from 1978.
Some of the toys on the list burned fast and bright – becoming must-haves before falling out of fashion. Thunderbird Tracy Island flew off the shelves so quickly that Blue Peter taught disappointed children how to make their own.
Tamagotchis in 2004. Photograph: Charlie Stroke/Alamy
And the list would not have been complete without sets from Lego – currently the biggest toy maker in the world – or the Rubik’s Cube. More than 500m cubes have been sold since it launched in 1974, making it the biggest-selling puzzle game of all time.
Victoria Kay, head buyer at Hamleys and chair of the panel that created the list, said her favourites included the Sindy doll. “I also adored Glo Worm, even though I was maybe a bit old for it, and Simon felt like properly cutting-edge, advanced technology when it came out – it was literally the soundtrack of Christmas in the 80s,” she said.
A 1960s Scalextric racing set. Photograph: My Childhood Memories/Alamy
Kay said a toy could have many purposes, including education, problem solving or offering comfort, and that some of the big-selling games also brought together people of all ages.
Simplicity combined “with a good dose of jeopardy and you have something truly memorable – think Operation or KerPlunk, Jenga or Buckaroo – they are so simple. I used to panic trying to balance the boot in Mousetrap and be terrified of the noise Operation would make when I got it wrong or just burst with panicky laughter when the Jenga tower finally wobbled and collapsed. Toys like that will last forever,” she said.
Despite reporting profits for 2024, Hamleys recently closed 29 shops.
Pusha T isn’t a fan of Drake latest single “What Did I Miss?“
While he and his brother Malice sat down with Complex News recently, the Virginia rapper was asked directly if he liked the Toronto rapper’s new song and simply replied, “No.” When asked what he didn’t like about the track, he responded by saying, “Just not for me.”
The two have been subbing and dissing each other dating back to around 2011, with things coming to a head with Drake dropping “Duppy Freestyle” and Push answering with the scathing “Story of Adidon.” However, don’t expect Push to throw any more shots.
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In an interview with GQ last month, he told the outlet that there’s really nothing more to be said. “I think after everything that had been done, I don’t think there was ever anything subliminal to be said ever again in life,” he said. “Not only just musically, like bro, I actually was in Canada. I actually had a show and made it home. So, I can’t pay attention to none of that. I did the dance for real, not to come back and tiptoe around anything.”
He also spoke on Drake’s lawsuit, which may or may not have affected the new Clipse album directly in regards to Kendrick Lamar‘s verse on “Chains & Whips.”
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” he said of Def Jam’s parent company UMG. Adding that Drake’s ongoing lawsuit against his label “kind of cheapens the art of it once we gotta have real questions about suing and litigation.”
Symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal were first identified in the 1950s — but since then, psychiatrists and professional organizations have disagreed about how common or severe these symptoms may be.
A new review — the largest to date on antidepressant discontinuation symptoms, published in the prestigious journal JAMA Psychiatry — has found that while most people in this situation experience at least one symptom, the majority don’t experience severe withdrawal.
“Our work should reassure the public,” said lead author Sameer Jauhar, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at Imperial College London, in a press release. “Despite previous concerns about stopping antidepressants, our findings show that most people do not experience severe withdrawal.”
But some experts are skeptical of the findings.
“The review shows that SSRIs and SNRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, the most common antidepressants] cause withdrawal effects after just a few weeks,” says Joanna Moncrieff, MD, a professor of critical and social psychiatry at University College London.
But concluding that most people don’t have symptoms that affect their well-being or ability to function based on the included studies would be a mistake, says Dr. Moncrieff, who wasn’t involved in the study.
The trials used to reach that conclusion were almost all short-term, lasting 8 to 12 weeks, she says. “Since we know that withdrawal symptoms are more likely to develop after long-term use, such trials are completely uninformative about the risks of withdrawal for people who use the drugs for months and years — as many, many people do,” she says.
The new findings contradict a 2019 analysis by British researchers that had a major impact on both public perception and how some doctors prescribed — and tapered patients off — antidepressants. That earlier review found that 56 percent of people stopping antidepressants experienced withdrawal symptoms, with nearly half describing them as severe.
The Most Common Symptoms of Stopping an Antidepressant
For the new review, researchers analyzed 50 randomized controlled trials (considered the gold standard), which included a total of nearly 18,000 people. Participants were 44 years old, on average, and 70 percent were female.
The review showed that the most common symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal were:
Dizziness
Nausea
Vertigo
Nervousness
These symptoms usually appeared within the first few days of discontinuation.
The researchers also calculated how many people taking antidepressants experienced each symptom, compared with how many people had those symptoms when stopping a placebo:
Dizziness: 7.5 percent in people stopping an antidepressant, versus 1.8 percent in people stopping a placebo
Nausea: 4.1 percent versus 1.5 percent
Vertigo: 2.7 percent versus 0.4 percent
Nervousness: 3 percent versus 0.8 percent
The authors wrote that these symptoms were more likely to reflect depression symptoms coming back, rather than symptoms of medication withdrawal.
Moncrieff also takes issue with that finding, saying that “this conclusion was based on a small number of studies” and wasn’t systematically measured, but rather gathered from the reports of individual doctors or patients. She says that it means the data likely isn’t reliable.
On average, compared with those stopping a placebo, people stopping antidepressants reported just one additional withdrawal symptom, a difference that falls below the threshold for clinical significance, which was determined to be experiencing four or more symptoms, the authors wrote.
In this case, clinically significant refers to a person having noticeable symptoms that would impact their well-being, ability, or daily life.
Moncrieff also points out that the “clinically significant” cutoff of having four or more symptoms isn’t a universally agreed on definition.
The authors do acknowledge that the majority of the studies were short-term and only followed people up to two weeks after discontinuing the medication (though they say that’s the period one would expect most withdrawal symptoms to occur), which limits long-term conclusions.
However, they noted that their findings matched results from a trial published in 2021 that looked at people who had been on antidepressants for longer — many for at least two years — that found severe withdrawal is infrequent, even after prolonged use. That study was included in the current review.
Does the New Review Put Concerns Over Antidepressant Withdrawal to Rest?
Gerard Sanacora, PhD, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut, who was not involved in the study, says that the new review findings were “consistent with what we see clinically” among people taking antidepressants on a short-term basis.
“These symptoms are real, but they’re not as dramatic or dangerous as they’re sometimes portrayed,” says Dr. Sanacora. “The data provides valuable context for conversations with patients. It shows that withdrawal is possible, but in most cases, it’s limited and manageable.”
Sanacora says that it’s not clear whether the study findings would apply to people who have taken antidepressants for a longer time. Placebo-controlled studies on longer-term use and discontinuation just aren’t available, he says.
And it’s hard to compare what people might experience or report in the “real world,” because there’s no placebo control there either, Sanacora adds.
What You Feel vs. What You Expect to Feel
Just as believing that a treatment will help can improve outcomes (the placebo effect), expecting problems can make people more likely to feel worse.
A recent meta-analysis of 79 studies is a case in point. The review found that although 1 in 3 people experienced withdrawal symptoms when discontinuing antidepressants, so did 1 in 6 patients stopping a placebo. After accounting for the placebo effect, the study concluded that 15 percent of patients truly experienced withdrawal, and 3 percent experienced symptoms classified as severe, such as insomnia, nausea, and headaches.
“How we talk about these issues really matters,” says Sanacora. “It’s a balance between giving patients the information we have to set reasonable expectations, but also not putting it in their head that they’re going to have a really hard time,” he says.
Sanacora believes that the study offers a valuable tool to help guide these conversations. “It’s not about downplaying people’s experiences. It’s about giving them accurate, balanced information,” he says.
What You Should Know if You’re Thinking About Stopping Your Antidepressant
Roughly 1 in 9 U.S. adults take antidepressants, and women are about twice as likely as men to take antidepressants. Although this latest review suggests that, for most people, withdrawal is manageable, it doesn’t mean everyone’s journey will be easy.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” says Sanacora. “Some medications carry more risk of withdrawal than others, and some people are more sensitive to changes.”
The findings should not be interpreted to mean that stopping your antidepressant is no big deal or that it can be managed on your own. “You should talk with your doctor if you want to stop your medication, and you can decide together how to discontinue your antidepressant to minimize the risk of withdrawal symptoms or a relapse of your depression,” Sanacora says.
Two Tests up with one to play, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said Saturday’s third Lipovitan-D Test at Hamilton is still a challenge against France.
The All Blacks were proud to front up every Test, so it was a matter of what their mindset would be, as a group, and what their motivation would be.
Robertson said, “That’s our challenge.
“The second Test was for the Dave Gallaher Trophy and our narrative for the third one will be to keep performing at the highest level and show how much we care about our jersey.”
Robertson said the side’s second-half performance would be an area of focus during the week’s preparation.
“We’ve played some great footy, and a couple of errors put a little bit of pressure back on us. We’re still creating, but we weren’t quite finishing in that second half, so we’re aware of it.
“We’re excited about what we’re creating but we can be a little more classy in our finishing.”
With Tupou Vaa’i having to go through HIA protocols, which will see him miss the Hamilton game, Samipeni Finau shapes as a prospective replacement for him. They have also called in some local players to assist.
But the team would be announced on Thursday, and fans and media would have to wait until then.
Some players have played several Tests among those in the squad who haven’t had a chance, so there is potential for them to be named for Saturday.
“And also, there are some young fellows that have come in and stepped up to play their first Test and performed well with a mixture of experienced All Blacks around them, and Fabian Holland is one of them.
“We’re pleased he’s stepped right up to Test footy. We set him up, and we’ve had a couple of weeks to set the others up to have a crack too.
“We want to create depth. We picked 33 players with the ability for mid-field back Anton Lienert-Brown to be selectable once he’d been cleared. And now he is in the money and taking his opportunity.
“There’s competition all over which is exactly what we want.”
Robertson said the innovations, especially at the lineout, that saw a try around the front of the line for halfback Cam Roigard, were part of wanting to find ways to innovate, get one-on-ones, and catch the opposition by surprise.
“Something you haven’t seen is the hardest thing to defend. So what’s that little moment you can catch them?
“You can spend a lot of time, and sometimes you focus on that, and it doesn’t quite turn out how you want it. Sometimes it comes off. A lot has to go right for those little moments if you make it too complicated.
“We’ve got some creative juices in our group, and they’re always suggesting. We’re available for all the options out there in New Zealand.”
Find out where to watch All Blacks v France around the world HERE.
Mitchell Starc has produced one of the all-time great bowling spells and Scott Boland taken a hat-trick as Australia bowled West Indies out for 27 to win the third Test.
On a historic day in Jamaica, Australia’s quicks ran riot to wrap up a 176-run victory and claim a 3-0 series sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy.
Chasing 204 for victory, West Indies’ fourth innings lasted just 14.3 overs and only marginally eclipsed the lowest-ever Test total of 26 by New Zealand in 1955.
The score marked Australia’s best-ever bowling display in a Test, while West Indies’ 27 was the lowest total of any team in the past 70 years.
Boland became just the 10th Australian to claim a Test hat-trick, but it was Starc who ripped the heart out of the hosts with figures of 6 for 9.
The left-arm pacer took three wickets in the first over of West Indies’ second innings and claimed five in 15 balls to, at one stage, have the hosts 7 for 5.
Playing in his 100th Test, Starc also became the fourth Australian to reach the 400-wicket milestone, joining greats Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.
“When you talk about 100 Tests you talk about resilience, skill and fitness,” captain Pat Cummins said. “But today he showed the real Mitchell Starc, what he can bring to a team which is out of nowhere tearing an opposition apart and can win a game for you.
“He does it consistently in any format and I feel very lucky he is on our team.”
Mitchell Starc celebrates his fifth wicket as he leads Australia to victory over West Indies with a fiery spell on day three of the third Test. Photograph: Randy Brooks/AFP/Getty Images
Starc’s 15-ball five-wicket haul marked the fastest by any bowler in Test history, eclipsing the previous record of 19 from Ernie Toshack, Stuart Broad and Boland.
The 35-year-old also became the second man to take three wickets in the opening over of an innings, striking when he had John Campbell caught behind first ball.
He then trapped Kevlon Anderson when the right hander left a ball that tailed in at him, before bowling Brandon King with the last delivery of the over.
Starc’s assault carried into his third over, claiming his 400th Test scalp with another ball that swung into Mikyle Louis’ back pad. Shai Hope followed two balls later, again trapped lbw.
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At that point Starc had figures of 5 for 2, with the only runs off him coming via the outside edge of Hope’s bat and through the slips.
Starc could have had a sixth victim, had Sam Konstas not grassed two chances at third slip to remove Alzarri Joseph either side of tea. But that opened the door for Boland’s hat-trick.
Called in for Nathan Lyon, the Victorian edged off Justin Greaves, had Shamar Joseph lbw and bowled Jomel Warrican in consecutive balls.
The hat-trick marked Australia’s first in a Test since Peter Siddle in the 2010-11 Ashes.
“I was a bit nervous bowling that last ball,” Boland admitted. “It’s an amazing feeling. Starcy set us up there, and I have never been involved in a game where we bowled a team out for 27.”
In all, four of West Indies’ top five were dismissed for ducks, while they only avoided being all out for 26 via a misfield from Konstas at the end.
Australia’s record showing came after they appeared in danger of dropping the Test, when bowled out for 121 in their second innings courtesy of 5-27 from Alzarri Joseph.
“It’s heartbreaking to be in a position like that, where we could have won the game and come out and have that poor batting display,” West Indies captain Roston Chase said.
Paris Saint-Germain games often have a Groundhog Day feel: they start with a rugby punt into the corner, fall into a pattern of PSG domination and, invariably, end in victory for Luis Enrique’s side. Be it in Ligue 1, the Champions League or at the Club World Cup, their opponents tend to deploy unambitious low blocks to break the inevitable pattern. But the tactic rarely stifles PSG’s forwards.
PSGhave lost just three games in 2025; two of those defeats came in the league, after the title was already secured and attention had shifted towards a maiden European title. A low block against a side so fluid, liberated and technically gifted is submission masquerading as resistance.
Chelsea subverted the trend. So used to exerting territorial and possessional dominance, PSG were immediately put on the back foot. “We won the game in the first 10 minutes. It set the tone,” Enzo Maresca said after his London side lifted the trophy in New Jersey.
Chelsea’s aggressive, man-to-man, high-pressing approach produced a 3-0 win, but they did not dominate all phases of play. The new “world champions” were limited to 33% possession, conceded eight shots and were reliant on Robert Sánchez to produce brilliant saves, notably from Ousmane Dembélé early in the second half.
Chelsea lacked the in-possession structure to fully stifle Luis Enrique’s side, but they kept the dangermen – Dembélé, Désiré Doué, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – out of the game. By pushing so many players deep into the PSG half, Chelsea managed to stifle the influence of the swashbuckling Vitinha and sever the production lines. Chelsea’s persistent, intense and organised pressing did not limit PSG’s possessional dominance, but it did prevent them from establishing territorial dominance.
PSG players look around for answers after they go 2-0 down. Photograph: Patrick Smith/Fifa/Getty Images
“It was difficult for us from the opening minutes,” Luis Enrique said. “I said that Chelsea are a good team. They showed it.” Chelsea unsettled PSG, giving them a taste of their own medicine. And for once, it was the Champions League winners who could not match that energy without the ball.
Kvaratskhelia’s lethargy in pressing and reluctance to recover down his flank was the source of Chelsea’s third goal, a lovely dinked finish from João Pedro. Sánchez, sometimes shaky when pressed, had the time to sweep the ball out to Malo Gusto, who set up Cole Palmer for his first goal. Levi Colwill too had ample time to set up Palmer to get his second, a mirror-image of his opener as he switched the play out to his right. Luis Enrique’s side lacked their characteristic verve and they were punished for it on three occasions as their chances of completing a clean sweep of trophies evaporated inside the first half.
Weaknesses not previously perceived or recognised as such were exploited. Nuno Mendes has been the best left-back in Europe this season. As well as bombing forward, he has also stifled players such as Mohamed Salah and Bukayo Saka in the Champions League. Against Chelsea he provided a reminder of his defensive fallibility and vulnerability to long balls played into his zone.
Lucas Beraldo, positioned next to Mendes in the PSG defence, would have been perceived as a target before the game. He was only starting in the absence of Willian Pacho, whose red card against Bayern Munich ruled him out. The Brazilian, who has now reportedly made a transfer request, has struggled when given chances, and it was no different against Chelsea. All three goals happened within his zone, even if he was not always directly responsible. “We used Cole and Malo on that side to create a little bit of an overload,” Maresca said.
End-of-season fatigue has been cited as a factor, as have the searing temperatures and the fact Chelsea had an extra day to prepare for the final. The PSG players have expended a lot of physical and mental energy over this 65-game campaign, but Chelsea’s season has lasted 64 games and they had to contend with the same conditions, described as “dangerous” by Enzo Fernández before the match.
Luis Enrique was not in search of excuses. “Over the course of the match, they deserved the win,” said the Spaniard, who recognised his opponent’s superiority on the day. “We aren’t losers. We didn’t fail. There was a champion. We fell but the loser is the one who doesn’t get up.”
João Pedro scores Chelaea’s third goal in their 3-0 win. Photograph: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images
The Spaniard had, nonetheless, lost his cool moments earlier, involved in what he described as an “avoidable” altercation with Pedro post-match. He, like his players – notably João Neves, who was sent off for a pull on Marc Cucurella’s hair – were all suddenly bereft of the composurethat characterised their serene run to the Champions League trophy, superhumans rendered human once more.
So have Chelsea set the blueprint of how to beat PSG? Champions League-level sides may be wise to ditch the passive, defensive and submissive approach adopted by many last season. Fight quality with quality, if you can. But there is a quality imbalance in Ligue 1 and one that is only being widened. PSG are the only team truly immune to the financial problems gripping the domestic game and the €116m earned over their Club World Cup run only strengthens their financial situation.
Ligue 1 sides have spent only €160m so far this summer and more than half of that has been on signing players who were already at clubs on loan last season. PSG are yet to make their move in the transfer window, but they soon will – Nasser Al-Khelaifi has confirmed as much.
Ligue 1 sides cannot fight quality with quality; low blocks, the likes of which Les Parisiens face week-in week-out, will still be seen as the way to attempt to level an uneven playing field. While their French rivals may not lick their lips at the flaws laid bare in New Jersey, their European rivals will.
