Why Losing To PSG Is The Lesser Of Manchester City’s Evils

Well, one night in Paris was a bit crap, and not the result that Manchester City wanted, and a far cry from that glorious semi final, when Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez gave the blues a memorable 2-1 victory in Les Parc des Princes.

And while Saturday’s victory over Chelsea was viewed by some City fans as revenge for the Champions League final that followed last April’s win in Paris, PSG supporters will have been thinking the same last night.

It must have been fate that drew the two teams together in what was viewed as the ‘oil derby,’ or the ‘battle of the chequebooks,’ but it was an eagerly anticipated clash of two teams who let the talking be done on the pitch.

And while it didn’t exactly go to plan for City, it can be viewed as a match that the blues could afford to lose, particularly when the fixtures either side of this match were against potential Premeir League title contenders.

It was City’s first group stage defeat since Lyon beat the blues in September 2018 and it had to happen sometime, and in the middle of the blues fixtures week from hell, it was the one that mattered the least.

City won their opening fixture 6-3 against RB Leipzig, and travel to Club Bruges on 19th October. They then face the Belgians in Manchester at the beginning of November, before welcoming PSG for the return fixture. If the blues win both their matches against Bruges, it will put them five points clear of their opponents, meaning qualification will be almost a certainty.

And qualification from the group stage is what is important, as finishing top of the group should no longer take a priority. If City want to win the Champions League, we shouldn’t rely on so called ‘easy’ matches in the last 16 - simply because there are no easy matches. All the teams who play in the last 16 have earned their place in the knock-out stage and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

However, there are four matches to go and, contrary to what some blues may think, the sky isn’t falling just because of a defeat to one of the strongest teams in the Champions League. Let’s face it, they’re a different class to a certain Swiss team called Young Boys!

The blues now need to put the PSG match behind them and fully focus on Sunday’s big match. After dominating at Chelsea on Saturday, the blues face a tougher test at Anfield, with the winners being top of the league by the evening. Last season City recorded their first win on the red half of Merseyside since 2003, and the blues won’t want to leave it so long again before claiming another victory.

Just as PSG were a different opposition to Chelsea, Liverpool will be different from PSG, and the blues will need to adapt their game to counter the threat from Liverpool, who will be on a high after hitting Porto for five on Tuesday.

While it was disappointing to lose a match after having so many shots on target, no doubt City will be fired up for the trip to Anfield, and hopefully, they will come away with the three points their performance in Paris deserved. If they play like they did last Saturday, we should emerge victorious.

Provided we take our chances this time!