Paris Saint-Germain finished a surprising return to overcome Manchester City 4-2 with the appearance of Pep Guardiola that now fell from the places of the Champions League.
City find themselves two points adrift of 24th-placed Stuttgart with their European future now hanging in the balance ahead of their final league-phase fixture against Club Brugge on January 29.
Only a win will be enough for City to get into the play-offs. A win would drop them points in trouble with Brugge, with an incredible difference in purpose, the win will be enough for City to escape the drop zone.
At the moment when the objectives of half of Jack Grenish and Erling Haaland have placed Guardiola’s men in the driving seat, however, their defensive failures were operated when they collapsed in the princes Parc Des.
Eleven minutes of pulsating action saw 4 targets arrested, with Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola drawing the point for the hosts, before the return ended through Joao Neves, who ran on a crossover in the back post to direct his appearance in An advantage of due.
Goncalo Ramos, adding a room in the detention time, added insult to the injury.
It is now 21 points dropped from winning positions for this barely recognisable City side, who now have a mountain to climb just to progress into the play-off stages. Winning against their upcoming Belgian opponents is non-negotiable.
Man City Boss Pep Guardiola talking to TNT Sport:
“First half, they had the moments. We had one or two that were better.
“We’re scoring in minutes, then they score in minutes. At that time, they believed. They were better. Faster and faster.
“The best team won and we have a last chance at home to [Club] Brugge. It could happen. If we do not win, we do not deserve it. This is the reality, we did not get enough points and we have to accept it.”
Man City Jack Grealish Talking with TNT Sport:
“Usually, at that time, we are very intelligent. It has happened many times this season: build one, two or 3 goals and not be to see it. In all other seasons, we have been so intelligent in games management.
“I don’t know if it’s a challenge of trust. It is up to us to replace this to move forward and win this adjustment next week [VS Club Brugge].
“We have had games like this in the recent season. Voltage games and we will love them. It’s ours and we are intelligent at home. “
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:
After this demonstration in the first half, the result did not surprise me. But the way he arrived is to worry about this city.
Losses to Juventus, Sporting and now PSG, as well as squandering a three-goal lead against Feyenoord, are not just poor results. They are complete capitulations when the lights are shining brightest in Europe’s elite competition.
In the same week that the promising young duo of Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov arrived at the Etihad Stadium for a combined fee of over £60m, City have been handed their clearest indication that the reset button needs to be hit.
They are not the team in which we have become accustomed to monitoring over the years and if they do not qualify for the qualifying stages of the Champions League, it is because they do not deserve to be there, as Guardiola pointed out.
Lewis Jones of Sky Sports:
Ederson notably lost property 14 times and its passing precision only 63. 16%.
Both metrics are their worst return in A for two and a half years.
He did not help things right now with his horrible resolution while playing. It was even crossed by the curse of Manchester City, but not at the same point as in recent years.