The water battle at the Parc des Princes was a real letdown for Man City. The visitors were outplayed for much of the game, creating fewer chances, enduring more attacks and conceding more goals.
This convincing defeat has pushed Man City into the elimination group. In the final match, they will host Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium with the mission of having to win. The rate for Man City to enter the play-off round is still very high if they win all 3 points. However, that rate does not reach the threshold of 100%, so there is still a risk for the reigning Premier League champions.
If Man City are eliminated early, this could be the biggest shock of the 2024-2025 Champions League season when the format is changed for the first time before the knockout round. When they are on the way to reviving their form, the shock against PSG is really hard to swallow for Pep and his students.
The first 45 minutes at the Parc des Princes showed a completely different image of Man City compared to what fans have known. For the first time in more than 5 years, they had a ball possession rate in the first half of only 36.3%. If it weren't for luck or Ederson's brilliant situations, everything would have ended for the visitors early.
Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique both worship the philosophy of ball control, but the difference in the last match came in the moments of converting opportunities. In contrast to PSG, there were many situations where Man City had good opportunities but the top stars of the away team could not put the ball in the net. The two goals scored in the beginning of the second half came mostly from situations where PSG's defense made mistakes, rather than Man City finding gaps to deploy and defeat the opponent.
A tennis-sets win over Ipswich Town did not help Man City. Their Premier League opponents were too weak to provide a quality "blue team" ahead of the decisive Champions League match. This defeat showed that the recent stable form was only a relief from the previous pain.
From the stands, watching his teammates continuously pick the ball out of the net, Rodri could not hide his sadness. His absence is one of the biggest reasons for the current collapse. Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva are new options for Pep to fill Rodri's position, but they are not capable enough to form a shield for the defense.
"They were faster and stronger than us in one-on-one encounters. Man City couldn't do anything to defend today. The stronger team deserved to win.
The game didn't go as we wanted. To defend, you need to have good control of the ball, you need to keep the ball at your feet, but we didn't do that. PSG had more of the ball, they attacked more and it made us more nervous.
"The prospect of Man City not being able to reach the play-off round is possible, we have to wait and see. If we cannot win against Club Brugge, Man City does not deserve anything anymore. This season in the Champions League, we have struggled every time we play away and did not get enough points to be able to decide early" - Pep Guardiola shared after the defeat.
