Manchester City will have no margin for error as they try to keep their Champions League crusade alive next week after giving up a two-goal lead in a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
After leading 2-0 shortly after the break, City suffered a thrilling comeback from PSG at the Parc des Princes and head into their matchday 8 showdown with Club Brugge in seven days’ time in the playoffs. championship. . and needs a victory to qualify for the knockout play-offs.
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After a goalless first half, a tense tactical war broke out with three goals in six minutes, with Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland giving City a 2-0 lead before Ousmane Dembélé halved the lead. deficit.
Then, in the 61st minute, PSG’s Desire Doue hit the crossbar and Bradley Barcola deftly guided the ball into the box to aim before Joao Neves headed home to turn the game around.
And there was still time for PSG to pour further misery on Pep Guardiola’s men, Goncalo Ramos curling home a fourth with the final kick of the game.
Thom Harris, Sam Lee and Oliver Kay detail the main talking points from a grueling night for City.
All of the problems from the end of 2024 were evident during this match: City could not deal with PSG’s energy (something which got worse as the match went on), the loss of defenders at inopportune moments and, frankly, underperforming players.
Mateo Kovacic took off with 20 minutes left after a very sloppy night, but the guy who replaced him was Ilkay Gundogan, who struggled so much in the passing role against the quick players.
This week, as City sign two young centre-backs and prepare to announce the arrival of striker Omar Marmoush, it has never been more evident that what they want most is a recovering midfielder.
Despite those issues, they are very likely to beat Club Brugge next week, but if they want to do something in the Champions League this season and qualify for next season, they will want to fix their midfield and that probably won’t suit them. happen. in the motion window.
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Sam Lee
There is a certain irony in City’s first forty-five minutes in Paris, recording just 36. 3 per cent ownership, their lowest first half overall in over five years. For once, they were the ones who seemed to be the most threatening on the counterattack. .
Four quick goals after the break opened the game, but for long periods it was a game of concentration and courage.
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City approached things in their customary 4-4-2 shape without the ball, pushing on into a 4-2-4 when they pressed high.
As if they were at Leicester City in December, they settled for going deeper and concentrating on getting rid of the area between the lines when the opponent approached.
PSG managed to generate a loose player in midfield on several occasions (often through Fabian Ruiz, who moved to the right of Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden), but were unable to make the most of it, as City repelled most of the established possessions. they had their hosts. Formation
Both Guardiola and Luis Enrique expressed a preference for control, but the game’s opportunities arose from the randomness of the transition.
A moment of brilliance from Barcola to skip past Josko Gvardiol shone brightest but City’s second came from a sweeping move while a long ball over PSG’s man-to-man press in the first half gave Kevin De Bruyne a great chance that he could only fire straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma.
At one point, Foden even managed to create a chance for Savinho by blasting the ball into an opposition player. This was not the game that either manager envisioned, but one that Luis Enrique will certainly take.
Thom Harris
Jack Grealish must briefly have felt like this, finally, was going to be his big night.
The goal he scored, lashing the ball home from close range shortly after his arrival as a half-time substitute, was his first in the Champions League since September 2021. A big goal too, it seemed, one that put City on course for a precious victory at the Parc des Princes.
He also played a big part in City’s second goal, his pass requiring an unintentional touch from Neves to find its way towards Haaland, and for a moment it looked like Grealish had controlled to keep Achraf Hakimi busy in a way that Savinho, in the first goal The component did not work.
But Grealish, like the rest of City, overcame PSG’s next response.
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His initial impact on the bench (long-awaited, but much-appreciated) was reduced to a footnote on a night that exposed many of the same City shortcomings that were evident during that disastrous run before Christmas.
Olivier Kay
It’s a frustrating setback for City, who have 8 problems in seven games, but they will be grateful to have come in with a slight lead.
According to The Athletic’s projections, Guardiola’s team had only a nine% chance of being eliminated before the game and things did not recover too dramatically with one more game to save their skin.
Club Brugge are City’s opponents next Wednesday, one of the two teams on 11 points. Should City beat the Belgian side, they will overtake them on goal difference, and likely take their place in the top 24. Anything less than a win, and City are in trouble.
PSG, for its part, revived its crusade with an important victory. Going to Stuttgart on the last day, also with 10 points, may not be easy, but avoiding defeat would deserve help, since Bruges and City face each other. , and at least one of those groups will have fewer problems or a smaller difference in objectives.
Thomas Harris
“They were getting faster, they won the duels, we couldn’t get out of there,” Guardiola told TNT Sports.
“They were fast. The most productive team won. The game was never what we were looking for. To play you have to play. To protect the result you have to keep the ball, we didn’t have it. They have more, they attack better, that’s why it’s more difficult.
“It may just happen (City doesn’t make the playoffs and is eliminated). We’ll see. If we don’t win (against Bruges), we don’t deserve it. All the away games we have are complicated, but that is the reality. We didn’t get enough points.
Saturday, January 25: Chelsea (H), Premier League, 5.30pm GMT, 12.30pm ET
The play-off draw will take place on January 31 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
The knockout play-offs begin on February 11 and 12, with the return matches on February 18 and 19. Beginning with the play-offs, the tournament is played in a bracket format and ends with the final at the Allianz Arena from Munich, Germany, on May 31.
The full dates for the Round are below: