Paris Saint-Germain begin their 2014/15 UEFA Champions League campaign with their first Group F fixture against Ajax on Wednesday night.
It's the French champions against the Dutch champions, Laurent Blanc against Frank de Boer, both fighting for a qualification spot, presumably alongside Barcelona.
Ajax haven't qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League since 2006, so the last threads of their damaged reputation are clinging on for dear life, in the hope that they can finally reach the illustrious knock-out stage that has eluded them for almost nine years now.
As for their French counterparts, Paris Saint-Germain enjoyed a rather successful campaign last season, eventually knocked out by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at the quarter-final stage, even after winning the first-leg 3-1 at the Parc des Princes. A valuable learning experience for Les Parisiens, no doubt, as Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic lead the way, with the power and experience of Thiago Motta and Blaise Matuidi providing a fantastic base behind.
Ajax carry a threat themselves, with Viktor Fischer and Lasse Schone possessing special goalscoring talents, as well as Arkadiusz Milik, the Polish forward, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, who scored a hat-trick at the weekend for the reigning Dutch champions.
PSG will also have the psychological advantage over their opponents in that they will field two ex-Ajax players in Gregory Van der Wiel and maverick striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Van der Wiel was a loyal servant to the Dutch side, the right-back making over 130 appearances during a five-year spell.
The Dutchman has admitted his nerves ahead of facing his former employers, telling Sky Sports, "It'll be weird to play against them because I still have many friends there," he stated "Actually, I know everyone."