PARIS: A year of unprecedented pressures on the global football calendar begins with a Champions League first, as two rounds of matches in Europe's elite club competition take place in January and some of the continent's biggest names face a scrap to avoid a humiliating exit.

There is no bigger game this week than Paris Saint-Germain against Manchester City, with two clubs who have transformed the face of football over the last 15 years at risk of early elimination.

Qatar-owned PSG and Abu Dhabi-backed City, the latter winners of the Champions League two years ago, have stumbled their way through this first season since the tournament's expansion.

City have taken just one point from their last three Champions League games and lie 22nd in the 36-team standings.

PSG, semi-finalists last season, are a point behind City in 25th place, and therefore in greater danger of going out given that only the top 24 advance to the knockout phase.

That would be deeply embarrassing for them, and particularly humiliating for Nasser al-Khelaifi, PSG's Qatari president.

He was instrumental in driving the changes to the Champions League as chairman of the influential European Club Association and a member of UEFA's Executive Committee.

"It is even stronger and that is what we like about it," Khelaifi said after the draw in August for the expanded competition, which now features 36 teams in one giant league, each playing eight games against different opponents.

The new format initially drew criticism. It was seen as a way of pandering to the demands of clubs like PSG and City to have more games and more revenue, while reducing the prospects of them going out early on.

It has not turned out that way, and PSG have been hampered by a difficult draw — the hardest of any team according to statisticians Opta – that has already seen them play Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, and lose to all three.

If PSG lose to City, they will be under severe pressure in their last game against Stuttgart on January 29, when 18 matches take place simultaneously.

City will similarly be in grave danger if they lose in Paris, although one win from their last two matches may suffice to reach the play-off round, with 10 points expected to be enough.

Reigning champions Real Madrid are also in a slightly uncomfortable position. They lie 20th with nine points having lost half their six games.