Manchester City let another lead slip as they succumbed to a devastating 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
PSG were outstanding on home soil but found themselves two goals behind at the start of the second half. An immediate response brought the Parc des Princes back, and they eventually roared past their underdog visitors.
It was a night to remember for Luis Enrique and his team, but there is still work to be done if they are to secure a place in the play-offs. 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 elimination stage.
How the game played out
The heavy hitters were in town with Paris Fashion Week underway, although Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps are unlikely to be seen on 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) strangely we could have enjoyed a walk but the conditions facilitated some wonderful sequences of football between two very technical teams.
PSG were superb throughout the opening period, with their intensity without the ball embarrassing a City side who have shown signs of rediscovering their attacking prowess of late. PSG's pressure forced the visitors long, but the direct ball gave the home side a problem or two early on. Gianluigi Donnarumma, however, was simply forced into routine stoppages.
PSG's hustle out of possession was matched by their abundance in 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, after Fabian Ruiz had an effort cleared off the line by Josko Guardiol. Enrique's side then looked to have taken a 1-0 lead just before half-time, but Achraf Hakim's goal was disallowed after Nuno Mendes was sent off for offside in the build-up.
Interval changes from both managers suggested neither was particularly happy with what went down in the opening period, and one of Guardiola's subs, Jack Grealish, made an immediate impact as he broke the deadlock with an emphatic finish from close range .
Grealish was involved again minutes later as City doubled their lead through Erling Haaland. Matheus Nunes was responsible for breaking PSG's press by running through the heart of the Parisians' defensive structure before stepping up to Grealish to cross.
City's early second-half blitz sucked the life out of a previously fiery Parc des Princes, but Bradley Barcola offered the hosts hope as he skinned Nunes with superb skill, drove into the box and slurped home a another substitute, Ousmane Dembele, for him. halve their deficit. The young French winger brought PSG level on the hour mark after a high turnover and Barcola slotted home.
The Cityzens' issues from the first half against PSG's press showed up after that, and the hosts must have smelled blood. Guardiola's changes seemed to frustrate the visitors, who could not escape the Parisians' pressure amid a constant cacophony of noise from the ultras. Their capitulation was complete in the closing stages as the magnificent Joao Neves headed home at the back post before Goncalo Ramos added a fourth in stoppage time. town failed to receive any kind of response.
Check out the player ratings from PSG 4-2 Man City here.
It's been a while since these two treble-winning coaches with Barcelona have faced each other off the field. Their last game came during Guardiola's first season with City, but the most memorable encounter came when Guardiola took his Bayern Munich side to Camp Nou for the first leg of their 2014/15 Champions League semi-final against Barca of Enrique, losing 3-0 to the 'MSN' inspired Catalans.
The current iterations of their respective teams are far from the best either coach has coached, but that didn't detract from Wednesday night's tactical spectacle.
PSG's man-to-man pressure stymied City in the first half, with their collective efforts a testament to Enrique's coaching. They were superbly coached but the hosts were not brave or ruthless enough to take advantage of the mismatches they created against City's defence.
Guardiola's substitutes tipped the contest in the visitors' favor after half-time, but an Enrique substitution – Dembele for Kang – ensured PSG boasted a greater threat. The Frenchman brought PSG back into the game and PSG had more success while having two wingers constantly holding the width which constantly tested City's full-backs. Their outstanding work out of possession came to the fore afterwards, with their energy refusing to let up, and they were able to write Guardiola's side deep before Neves headed home the opener.
This has to go down as Enrique's most impressive night in Paris. His PSG side have at times looked naive, one-dimensional and light against stellar opposition, but they were better than Guardiola's side in almost every aspect on Wednesday night.
This once supreme force has not been adverse to taking points away from winning positions. Brentford only recently fought back from 2-0 down in the closing stages to earn a point against City, with Guardiola's side dropping 14 in total in Premier League and five more in this race before tonight.
Who can forget the capitulation to Feyenoord?
Without their stabilizing enforcer at the base of midfield. The city is prone to collapse. The Parc des Princes softened after Grealish and Haaland helped them to a 2-0 lead, but they succumbed to a moment of magic from Barcola that got PSG back in the game straight away. Re-establishing control would have been their goal with PSG tailing suddenly again, but then Mateo Kovacic, the man largely tasked with easing Rodri's absence, succumbed to the hosts' pressure, gave the ball away and Barcola eventually equalised.
A lack of plugs and ball carriers allowed PSG to choke after restoring parity, and the hosts looked ever more likely to score the fifth goal of the contest, completing City's collapse.
It looked as if it would be PSG with all the work to do in the 8th leg, but City's quick defeat and subsequent defeat means it is Guardiola's men who must win next week to just go through the play-off round.
The 2023 winners are winless in four league stage games and have dropped to 25th in the table. They are two points behind Stuttgart, who PSG face next week, in the final play-off spot. Thus, only a win will do against a Club Brugge side that cannot be underestimated at the Etihad. All but and City will unthinkably leave Europe before February.
PSG's stunning comeback has seen them climb to 22nd, but they are far from safe. There is still work for them in Stuttgart with their advantage over City in the table just two points. A point should be enough, but a loss in Germany is likely to make this win irrelevant.