1 week Ago By Yanga Sibembe
Manchester City’s European Champions League campaign is hanging on by the thinnest of threads. Pep Guardiola’s side relinquished a comfortable 2-0 lead established early in the second half to fall to a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the penultimate round of the league phase on Wednesday, 22 January 2025. The loss leaves City lingering one spot below the cut-off mark for the playoffs.
This season’s Champions League took on a new look as the organisers abandoned the traditional multiple group format for a league format featuring 36 teams. Under this new look, the top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, while sides that finish from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs. The victors of those eight matches will then book their last 16 spots.
As it stands, Guardiola’s City will not be among the 16 teams that play for survival in the playoffs. The defeat to PSG means City are 25th on the log table. They will need to win their final game of the league, which is against Belgium’s Club Brugge next week.
“Everything happened in the middle, and they had more players there. We could not do it and we could not control it defensively, and that was the point. To defend we have to play, and we could not.
Keep the ball, make an extra pass. In the big stages, the big teams, we struggle. We have to accept it.
We have to recover our game,” lamented Guardiola after his team’s latest setback this season. It’s not the first time that City have found themselves walking away disappointed from a match in the Champions League. In November they threw away a 3-0 advantage to draw 3-3 with Dutch side Feyenoord, much to Guardiola’s disappointment.
This disappointment was echoed by Jack Grealish, one of City’s goal scorers during the PSG defeat. It’s happened too many times this season when we’ve gone one goal or two goals up, or even three against Feyenoord (in the Champions League) and we’ve not been able to control the game and see it out. “It’s happened too many times this season when we’ve gone one goal or two goals up, or even three against Feyenoord (in the Champions League) 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,” the English midfielder said. With Brugge being one of the sides that City is directly chasing for a playoff place, their destiny remains in their hands. The contest with Brugge will be equivalent to a final, with the winner taking all.
“We have a last chance at home, we’ll do everything there,” stated Guardiola. While City have toiled in their Champions League season, their fellow English representatives, Liverpool and Arsenal, have flown extremely high. This is particularly true for Liverpool, who have juggled occupying top spot in the Premier League with doing the same in Europe’s premier club competition.
A 2-1 win over Lille for the Reds in the latest round of action saw them make it seven wins in as many matches of their Champions League campaign this season to remain first on the table. Only Spain’s Barcelona can knock the Reds off their perch in the final round of league phase fixtures. The Catalans came from behind to beat Benfica 5-4 in their last Champions League game — keeping the gap between themselves and Liverpool at three points.
Erling Haaland of Manchester City shows his disappointment during their Uefa Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes on 22 January 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo: Antonio Borga / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images) Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. (Photo: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images) Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid (left) celebrates his team’s third goal with Vinicius Junior during their Uefa Champions League match against Salzburg at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on 22 January 2025 in Madrid, Spain.
(Photo: Diego Souto / Getty Images) Behind these two pace setters is Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Since their 1-0 defeat to Italy’s Inter Milan in the fourth game week of the Champions League, the Gunners have won three on the trot. Their latest victory was a 3-0 win over Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.
“It’s been really, really good,” said midfielder Declan Rice of the new format of the Champions League and Arsenal’s performances so far. “It’s the first time trying it out and I think everyone was a little bit confused how it would work when it first got announced, but playing in this format has been really interesting. Playing big teams, coming up against different opposition, I’ve really liked it,” Rice said.
Much like former kings of Europe City, reigning European champions Real Madrid have struggled to adjust to the new format. A 5-1 win over RB Salzburg ensured that Los Blancos will at least be in the playoffs, as they sit in 16th spot with four wins and three defeats from their seven outings. A win and favourable results in other matches on the final league phase match day would see Carlo Ancelotti’s men squeeze into the top eight.
But the odds are not in their favour and they’ll probably have to settle for a playoff place. DM.
