Manchester City let another advantage slip by as they suffered a devastating 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
PSG were outstanding on home soil but found themselves trailing by two goals at the start of the second half. An immediate response got the Parc des Princes moving again, and eventually they raced past their frail visitors.
It was an unforgettable evening for Luis Enrique and his team, but there is still a lot to do to secure a play-off place. City’s defeat means they have slipped out of the top 24 of the league stage table and are in serious danger of exiting the Champions League before the knockout stages.
How the game developed
The heavyweights were in town during Paris Fashion Week, although Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps are unlikely to be seen on the catwalk after Wednesday night’s Champions League clash.
It was a drenched Parisian evening, an Owen Wilson (or at least his character in Midnight in Paris) would have strangely enjoyed walking in, but the conditions allowed for some wonderful football sequences between two highly technical teams.
PSG put in a strong performance throughout the opening period, using their off-the-ball intensity to unsettle a City side who have shown signs of rediscovering their attacking prowess of late. PSG’s pressing forced the visitors long, but the direct ball caused the hosts a problem or two early on. However, Gianluigi Donnarumma was only forced to make routine stops.
PSG’s hustle and bustle after possession was matched by their exuberance, but their excited wide players initially lacked assertiveness in the final third. Their best chance of the first half came from a set piece when Fabian Ruiz cleared Josko Gvardiol’s shot off the line. Enrique’s side then thought they had taken a 1-0 lead just before half-time, but Achraf Hakimi’s goal was canceled after Nuno Mendes was ruled offside in advance.
The changes made by both coaches at the break suggested that neither was particularly happy with what was happening in the early stages and one of Guardiola’s new signings, Jack Grealish, immediately caused a stir when he scored an impressive finish from close range broke the dead end.
Minutes later, Grealish was involved again as City doubled their lead through Erling Haaland. Matheus Nunes was responsible for breaking PSG’s press, driving through the heart of the Parisiens’ defensive structure before beating Grealish to the cross.
City’s lightning attack at the start of the second half sapped the life from a previously impassioned Parc des Princes, but Bradley Barcola gave the hosts hope when he skinned Nunes with wonderful skill, shot into the box and found another substitute, Ousmane Dembele, adding to their deficit halve. The young French winger brought PSG level on the hour mark after a high loss of the ball, and Barcola scored the follow-up.
The Cityzens’ problems from the first half against the PSG press became apparent in the period that followed and the hosts must have smelled blood. Guardiola’s substitutions appeared to hamper the visitors, who were unable to escape pressure from the Parisians amid a cacophony of sustained roar from the ultras. Their capitulation was complete in the closing stages when the majestic Joao Neves headed home at the back post before Goncalo Ramos added a fourth goal in stoppage time after City showed no reaction.
Check out PSG 4-2 Man City player ratings here.
It’s been a while since these two treble-winning coaches with Barcelona squared off on the sidelines. Their last meeting came during Guardiola’s first season with City, but the most memorable encounter came when Guardiola took his Bayern Munich side to the Camp Nou for the first leg of the 2014/15 Champions League semi-final against Enrique’s Barca, losing 3-3 . 0 for the “MSN” inspired Catalans.
Their respective teams’ current performances are far from the best any coach has ever coached, but that didn’t detract from Wednesday night’s tactical spectacle.
PSG’s man-to-man pressure undid City in the first half and their collective performance was a testament to Enrique’s coaching. They were superbly coached, but the hosts were neither brave nor ruthless enough to exploit the inconsistencies they caused against City’s defence.
Guardiola’s substitutes turned the game in the visitors’ favor after half-time, but an Enrique substitution – Dembele for Kang – meant PSG had more of a threat. The Frenchman brought PSG back into the game and PSG had more success with two wingers constantly holding the width, ruthlessly testing City’s full-backs. Their outstanding performance in possession then came to the fore, their energy never flagging and they managed to push Guardiola’s side deep before Neves headed home the opener.
This might be Enrique’s most impressive evening in Paris. His PSG team have occasionally looked naive, one-dimensional and lightweight against strong opponents, but on Wednesday night they were better than Guardiola’s team in almost every way.
This once-confident force was not averse to losing points from winning positions. Brentford recently fought back from a 2-0 deficit in the closing stages to claim a point against City, with Guardiola’s side losing a total of 14 in the Premier League and a further five in the competition before tonight.
Who can forget the capitulation against Feyenoord?
Without their stabilizing enforcer at the base of midfield. Cities are prone to collapses. The Parc des Princes was tamed after Grealish and Haaland helped them to a 2-0 lead, but they were victims of a moment of magic from Barcola that immediately brought PSG back into the game. Their aim would have been to restore control when PSG suddenly took the lead again, but then Mateo Kovacic, the man primarily tasked with mitigating Rodri’s absence, succumbed to the hosts’ pressure, giving the ball away and Barcola finally equalized.
The lack of goals and ball carriers left PSG suffocating once parity was restored, and the hosts always seemed the more likely chance to score their fifth goal of the competition, completing City’s collapse.
On Matchday 8 it looked like PSG had all the work ahead of them, but City’s rapid decline and subsequent defeat means Guardiola’s men will need to win next week just to get into the play-offs .
The 2023 winner has been winless in four league phase games and has slipped to 25th place in the table. They are two points behind Stuttgart, where PSG meet next week for the final play-off spot. Therefore, only a win against a Club Brugge team that cannot be underestimated at the Etihad is enough. It is anything but unthinkable that City will leave Europe before February.
PSG’s stunning comeback has seen them move up to 22nd place, but they are far from safe. Since the lead over City in the table is only two points, there is still a lot to do in Stuttgart. A point should be enough, but a defeat in Germany will probably make this victory irrelevant.