Pep Guardiola gave a stark assessment of Manchester City’s performance in the 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that leaves them staring at UEFA Champions League elimination.
Anything less than a victory at home to Club Brugge next week will see 2022/23 winners City endure a humiliating league phase exit.
They led 2-0 early in the second half at the Parc des Princes through goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland, although Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola swiftly cancelled out the advantage.
Without defensive leader Ruben Dias, who departed through injury at halftime, City were unable to stem the tide before wretched set-piece defending allowed the brilliant Joao Neves to head home with 12 minutes remaining.
As they did against Sporting CP and Feyenoord earlier in the competition, City collapsed spectacularly from a winning position. Luis Enrique’s youthful and energetic side did to City what they have done to so many opponents during their dominant Guardiola era.
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Age, injuries and a lackadaisical approach to replenishing the squad until this transfer window means the Premier League champions remain some distance away from their recent heights despite heading to the Parc des Princes on a six-match unbeaten run.
“They were better. Quicker, faster they won the duels with the ball and we could not cope with that,” Guardiola told TNT Sport. “The best team won.”
“If we can stay and keep the ball a little bit better but we could not do it.
“To play you have to play, we could not. To defend the result you have to keep the ball and we did not have it. They had it more and attacked better.”
Grealish’s goal came from his first touch, five minutes after replacing Savinho at the interval. The England international acknowledged that the fact it took him so long to get into the game highlighted how City’s customary control has deserted them.
Instant impact off the bench! ?
J️ack Grealish bags his first UCL goal since 2021 ? pic.twitter.com/ojkcAiMZAV
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 22, 2025
“Usually in these moments, we’re so good. It’s happened too many times this season when we’ve gone one goal, two goals up — even three against Feyenoord — and we’ve not been able to control the game and see it out.
“Like I said, it’s weird because in every other season, we’ve been so good in those moments managing the game. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing because for most of this season, especially before Christmas, we weren’t really at the levels we know we can be. We have so many players on the pitch at 2-0 up who are so good with the ball.
“Even when I came on, I didn’t touch the ball for a while. I was thinking ‘any chance?’, I wanted to get a few touches to get into the game. I scored, the next action I think we scored again. At that moment I’m thinking it was all going to plan, it was perfect. Even myself, I’m good at keeping the ball, but we didn’t do it. When they had the ball, they had people wanting the ball all the time, showing and keeping the ball.”
The arrival of young defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Victor Reis should give City some of the verve they saw in their victorious Parisian foes on Wednesday night, not to mention reinforcements for a creaking defence. Omar Marmoush is expected to follow from Eintracht Frankfurt before City turn towards addressing their dire problems in a Rodri-less midfield before the deadline.
Because if a Guardiola team finds itself slower, second best in the duels and unable to keep the ball to control games, it is a Guardiola team in name only. City are out of the worst of their winter slump but still a long way from their former selves. A potentially season-defining week with home matches against Chelsea and Brugge looks like a tricky time for rediscovery.
