- City need to win their final Champions League league match or face elimination
- They had led PSG 2-0 but collapsed in the second half, eventually losing 4-2
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Ruben Amorim looks desperate… it’s a last resort to publicly out your players
Manchester City face a do-or-die must-win tie against Club Bruges next week to squeeze into the Champions League playoffs after capitulating in Paris on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola‘s side blew a two-goal lead in a chastening 4-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain – leaving the 2023 European champions staring at a humiliating elimination.
Lying 25th in the 36-team table, anything but victory over the Belgians would see City dumped out before the knockout stages after another night of pain and anguish on the continent.
Guardiola admitted that his team were not physically capable of matching Luis Enrique’s PSG after finding themselves overwhelmed in a hostile atmosphere. And the manager claimed they are not able to go toe-to-toe with the top sides.
‘We suffered and they were better – better intensity to win duels,’ Guardiola said. ‘In the big stages, the big teams, we struggle. We have to accept it.
‘We have a last chance against Bruges. If we don’t do it then it’s because we don’t deserve it.’
Pep Guardiola has admitted Man City ‘have to accept’ that they ‘struggle’ against top sides
City blew a two-goal lead away to PSG in the Champions League to leave their play-off hopes in doubt with one game left
Guardiola said his side have to accept that they won’t ‘deserve’ to go through if they are knocked out next week
Erling Haaland was on the scoresheet, but City’s issues are mostly at the other end of the pitch
City have failed to win nine matches in which they have led so far this season – the most of any Premier League side. Leads have been squandered in three of the last four European fixtures.
Guardiola believes the regular defensive problems are a result of a lack of control in midfield, with City jittery once PSG scored their first goal. They remain keen on adding a new midfielder before the transfer window closes.
‘We have to defend with the ball or it’s impossible to play well,’ he added. ‘Keep the ball, the extra pass. The connection with Bernardo (Silva) and (Mateo) Kovacic was not possible or not good and we could not make the process. I tried different things but we couldn’t keep the ball.’
Guardiola revealed that Ruben Dias asked to be brought off at half time with yet another injury complaint and City face an anxious wait to see the extent of that before meeting Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The City boss has blamed home draws with Feyenoord and Inter for their precarious position in the competition and that was echoed by scorer of the opening goal, Jack Grealish.
‘Usually in these moments we’re so good,’ Grealish said. ‘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.
‘It’s weird because in every other season we’ve been so good in these moments, managing the game. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing because we know that for most of this season, especially before Christmas time, we weren’t really at the levels that we know we can do.
‘But it’s down to ourselves to try and change that moving forward. We have so many players on the pitch when we go two goals up that are so good with the ball, at keeping it. But we’ve not been doing that recently and that’s down to us.’
