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Manchester City let another lead slip away as they suffered a devastating 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
PSG were outstanding on home soil but found themselves two goals behind early in the second half. An immediate response brought Parc des Princes back, and they finally roared back at their underdog visitors.
It was a memorable night for Luis Enrique and his team, but there is still work to be done if they are to secure a play-off spot. City’s defeat means they have dropped out of the top 24 in the league stage table and are in serious danger of relegation. Champions League before the knockout stage.
How the game unfolded
The heavy-hitters were in town as Paris Fashion Week got underway, although Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps won’t be seen walking the catwalk after enjoying Wednesday night’s Champions League clash.
It was a gloomy Parisian evening, an Owen Wilson (or, at least, his character Midnight in Paris) would have enjoyed an odd stroll, but the conditions facilitated some fantastic football sequences between the two highly-technical teams.
PSG were brilliant throughout the opening period, without their intensity breaking down a City team who showed signs of rediscovering their attacking prowess of late. PSG’s press pressed the visitors for long periods, but direct ball gave the hosts a problem or two early on. Gianluigi Donnarumma, however, was only forced into routine stops.
PSG’s hustle out of possession matched their fervor on it, but their exciting wide players initially lacked assertiveness in the final third. Thus, their best chance of the first half came from a set-piece as Fabian Ruiz was cleared off the line by Josco Guardiola. Enrique’s side then looked to have taken a 1-0 lead before half-time, but Achraf Hakimi’s goal was denied after Nuno Mendes strayed offside in the build-up.
Changes at the interval by both managers suggested neither were particularly happy with how the opening period went down, and one of Guardiola’s substitutes, Jack Grealish, made an immediate impact as he broke the deadlock with a powerful finish from close range.
Grealish was involved again minutes later as City doubled their lead through Erling Haaland. Mathias Nunes was responsible for breaking up PSG’s press, driving through the heart of the Parisians’ defensive structure before tricking Grealish to cross.
City’s early second-half blitz drained the life out of a previously buoyant Parc des Princes, but Bradley Barkola gave the hosts hope as he skinned Nunes with incredible skill, broke into the box and picked out second option, Ousmane Dembele. Cut their losses in half. The young French winger brought PSG level on the hour mark after a high turnover, and Barcola tapped home the rebound.
The Citizens’ issues from the first half against PSG’s press manifested in the result, and the hosts must have smelled blood. Guardiola’s changes stymied the visitors, who could not escape the Parisian pressure amid a cacophony of constant roars from the ultras. Their surrender was complete in the closing stages as the majestic Joao Neves headed home at the back post before Goncalo Ramos added a fourth in stoppage time. city Failed to get any kind of response.
Check out the player ratings from PSG 4-2 Man City here.
It has been a while since these two treble-winning managers faced off with Barcelona. Their last meeting came during Guardiola’s first campaign with City, but the most memorable duel came when Guardiola led his Bayern Munich side to a 3-0 loss against Enrique’s Barca in the first leg of their 2014/15 Champions League semi-final at the Camp Nou. 0 to ‘MSN’ inspired Catalans.
The current iterations of their respective teams are far from the best the manager has coached, but that didn’t take away from Wednesday night’s tactical spectacle.
PSG’s man-to-man pressure stymied City in the first half, their collective efforts a testament to Enrique’s coaching. They were drilled brilliantly, but the hosts were neither brave nor ruthless enough to take advantage of the mismatches they created against City’s defence.
Guardiola’s substitutions tilted the contest in the visitors’ favor after half-time, but Enrique’s switch – Dembele for Kang – ensured PSG were more of a threat. The Frenchman got PSG back into the game, and PSG The two wingers had more success when consistently holding the width which constantly tested City’s full-backs. His excellent work out of possession followed afterwards, refusing to let his energy die down, and he was able to pen Guardiola’s side deep before Neves headed towards the go-ahead goal.
This has to go down as Enrique’s most impressive night in Paris. His PSG team occasionally looked naive, one-dimensional and bland against stellar opposition, but they were better than Guardiola’s side in almost every aspect on Wednesday night.
This once supreme force is not adverse to dropping points from a winning position. Brentford recently fought back from 2-0 down in the closing stages to pick up points against City, with Guardiola’s side dropping 14 in total. Premier League And five others in this competition before tonight.
Who can forget the defeat against Feyenoord?
Without his steady enforcer at the base of the midfield. The city is likely to collapse. Parc des Princes were subdued after Grealish and Haaland helped them to a 2-0 lead, but they were subject to a moment of magic from Barcola that brought PSG right back into the game. Re-establishing control would have been their aim with PSG’s tails suddenly up again, but then Mateo Kovacic, the man primarily tasked with reducing Rodri’s absence, succumbed to pressure from the hosts and cleared the ball away, and Barkola eventually equalised.
A lack of outlets and ball carriers allowed PSG to suffocate after restoring parity, and the hosts always looked more likely to score the fifth goal of the contest, completing City’s collapse.
It looked as though it would be PSG with all the work to do on Matchday 8, but City’s quick demise and subsequent defeat means it is Guardiola’s men who must win next week just to progress to the play-off rounds.
The 2023 winners are winless in four league stage matches and have slipped to 25th in the table. They are two points behind Stuttgart, who PSG face next week for the final play-off spot. Thus, only a win will take place against a Club Brugge team that cannot be underestimated at the Etihad. And anything other than a city would be unimaginably out of Europe before February.
PSG’s stunning comeback has seen them climb to 22nd, but they are far from safe. They still have work to do in Stuttgart with just a two-point advantage over City in the table. A point should be enough, but a loss in Germany would make this win irrelevant.
