Four damning stats that have Man City on brink of Champions League exit after PSG comeback

On the penultimate matchweek of the 2024-25 Champions League league phase, this was a massive game. Both Man City and PSG were in danger of elimination from the league phase, sitting in the lower end of the table.

Man City had taken eight points from six games, while PSG were on seven and sat outside the knockout qualification spots. There was every chance that defeat for one of these teams could have them on the brink of elimination. And that could be Man City.

The 2022-23 European champions have underwhelmed across all competitions this season, including the Champions League. That continued in the first half, with Erling Haaland particularly quiet, having 10 touches and completed just three passes.

Man City looked to be back on track within 10 minutes of the restart, with Jack Grealish and Haaland putting Pep Guardiola’s side 0-2 up. Then the wheels fell off. And we shouldn’t be surprised.

Lack of concentration after half-time

Man City may have gone two goals up in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, but they fell to a familiar problem. First of all, a word on Grealish who scored just his second goal of the season, building on his FA Cup strike against Salford City. Could 2025 bring a fresh start for the Englishman?

That question was washed away pretty quickly by Man City’s defence. Within seven minutes of Man City going two goals up, PSG drew level. Substitute Ousmane Dembele put PSG back in it in the 56th minute, with Bradley Barcola equalising on the hour-mark.

Man City have now conceded five goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half in the Champions League this season. No team has conceded more than the Citizens during that time period.

Inability to see out matches

Once PSG got their equaliser, there only really looked like being one winner. PSG were in the ascendancy and Man City looked shellshocked. It was only a matter of time before PSG made it count.

In the end, it took until the 78th minute for the match winner to be scored, with Joao Neves getting the goal. There was time for a fourth for PSG too, as Goncalo Ramos put a bow on the comeback, though not without VAR drama as it had initially been ruled out for offside.

Ramos’ goal was the fifth Man City have conceded in the last 15 minutes of the second half in the Champions League this season. Only Dinamo Zagreb (six) have conceded more in the final 15 minutes.

Lost leads

To reuse the lyrics of Three Lions and apply it to Man City, “Everyone seems to know the score, they’ve seen it all before. They just know, they’re so sure, that Man City’s gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away…”

The nature of Man City’s 0-2 lead after 53 minutes might have given some indication that it wasn’t going to last. They were smash-and-grab goals having been dominated for the first 45 minutes.

And while Man City of old will have probably held onto the lead, this is a new-look, shaky Man City. This is the second time in their last three games across all competitions that Man City have failed to win from a two-goal advantage. Just over a week ago, Man City were 0-2 up late on against Brentford before being held to a 2-2 draw.

It’s also the first time Man City have failed to win from a two-goal advantage since May 2021 when they were beaten 3-2 by Brighton in the Premier League. But that was when the title had already been secured.

That’s not all. This was the ninth time that Man City have failed to win a game in which they were ahead in all competitions this season, the most of any Premier League since in 2024-25.

Winless run

With one game left to play, Man City are 25th in the Champions League table. That’s currently not enough to see them in the knockout stages. They need to win against Club Brugge to avoid elimination. Anything else and they’re out.

And they go into that game now winless in their last four Champions League games, losing three and drawing one. It’s their joint-longest winless streak in the competition since a run from 7th March 2018 to 19th September 2018.

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