Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City: Champions League – live | Champions League

Guardiol clears the line for City!

24 min: Savinho sends Hakimi to the shops with a dummy feint as the Brazilian gallops down the left wing with purpose. Savinho crosses low to Foden but the Englishman loses his footing on the edge of PSG’s area at the crucial moment.

22 min: First chance for Haaland! Foot hangs up a cross from the right wing, but the big striker can’t get enough power on the lifted cross and Donnarumma collects easily.

20 minutes: Doué with a rabona! However, PSG lose possession. Senseless waste.

18 min: England coach Thomas Tuchel is in the stands, sat right next to France manager Didier Deschamps.

16 min: PSG have clearly been the brighter side in the opening minutes, particularly on this left side with Barcola looking bright, but City have started to enjoy some possession in midfield without creating any clear-cut chances. However, Haaland is lurking dangerously at the last man.

14 min: City’s back four has changed. It is now, from right to left: Matheus Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol. So all four are in different positions than the one they were in 10 minutes ago.

12 min: Here comes City. Savinho attempts a shot – blocked by Marquinhos before De Bruyne finds space and pings an effort just past Donnarumma. Well saved by the Italian.

10 minutes: Big chance for PSG! Dias floored Hakimi, for whom the City defender receives an early booking. From the resulting free kick a swirling ball is sent to the back post where João Neves meets it with a free header! But the former Benfica man sends his header over! Oooooh, and that’s a bad miss.

8 min: City’s back four are currently, from right to left: Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Nunes. Matheus Nunes at left back! Well, I never.

“Glad you mentioned the kits Michael,” emails Ian Sargeant. “I was thinking about how I would describe City’s. If you put three limes, two lemons and a strawberry Starburst/Opal Fruit in your mouth – chewed them all without swallowing any and took the globe out of your mouth, you would have something that looked pretty close”.

Very specific with your calculations there, Ian. And I like it.

6 min: PSG’s Doué latches onto a beautiful diagonal pass and drives into the box, registering our first shot and scorching Ederson’s palms with a fierce drive.

4 min: Both teams operate with high pressure. Silva wins the ball in midfield for City before Foden breaks forward at pace. City earn a corner but they take it short and the move fizzles out.

2 minutes: I have already mentioned the rain, but it is quite heavy and makes for a very slippery surface. I smell a defensive slip.

Peeeeeeeeeep!

Back to Paris. The teams line up in fetching training kits as the Champions League anthem is blasted out at the Parc des Princes. There are plenty of tifos in the stands and a whole lot of noise. We are one minute away from kick-off. Poof.

We have the first email of the eveningand it’s a biscuit.

“Do you know the terms of Solomon’s loan at Leeds? Couldn’t Spurs recall him? Just a thought. Cheers Tim, Middlesex”

Sorry, Tim, no I don’t.

Full time in the early kick-offs:

RB Leipzig 2-1 Sporting
Shakhtar 2-0 Brest

This is what it does to the Champions League stage standings.

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And why not read the first half of this MBM while you catch up on yesterday’s Champions League action in the latest Football Weekly podcast?

It is raining heavily in Paris. City will feel at home.

For the sake of clarityPSG’s big-money €70m signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is not trophy night. Napoli are not in any European competitions this season, which could be a factor in why they are currently top of Serie A. However, Kvaratskhelia is ineligible for PSG tonight because he was not registered for the league stage back in September (because he was only bought this month). However, the Georgian could be signed up for the knock-out phase of the Champions League if PSG were to make it.

Our watch is livewhich covers the following matches, which also start at 20:00 GMT:

Milan vs Girona
Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb
Celtic v Young Boys
Feyenoord vs Bayern
Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg
Sparta Prague vs Internazionale

Much of Manchester City’s focus the build-up to this game continued to descend on Erling Haaland following the news last week of his record-breaking nine-and-a-half-year contract.

City have also spent big on two young defenders this month. Neither Vitor Reis nor Abdukodir Khusanov are in Guardiola’s squad tonight.

A further big-money arrival is expected for Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Let’s unpack those teams a bit.

PSG line up in a 4-3-3, a more defensive formation than the one they played at the weekend against Lens. After starting that game, Warren drops Zaïre-Emery out of the XI. After missing the team entirely, Ousmane Dembélé returns to the bench.

Manchester City line up in their usual 4-2-3-1, which will transform into a 4-3-3 and back again. Jérémy Doku takes a hit, so Savinho comes on. Gündogan drops out for Bernardo Silva. John Stones returned to the squad after a month out injured, while Rodri has traveled to be part of things as he recovers from his ACL tear. Kyle Walker is not in the squad as he looks to complete his move to Milan.

The teams!

Must mention that Brestthe surprise team in this league phase, are currently 2-0 down away to Shakhtar in one of the early kick-offs. Half time there. It may be that the French team will have to settle for a play-off rather than the top eight.

Elsewhere, RB Leipzig leads Sporting 1-0. The Portuguese side continue to struggle following the departure of Ruben Amorim to Manchester United, who continue to struggle following the departure of Erik ten Hag, who struggled at Old Trafford… you get the gist.

Fabian Ruizwho scored the winner in PSG’s 2-1 comeback victory at Lens at the weekend, is one of two PSG players who will miss the next (and last) league game if he gets booked tonight, Nuno Mendes being the other. The Portuguese wing-back is so important to Luis Enrique, be it in a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3 formation, so it is important that he stays out of the referee’s book tonight, from a PSG perspective.

If you haven’t been following alongPSG are in pretty good form domestically, winning six of their last seven in all competitions, including decisive league victories over Lyon, Monaco and Lens. That means the Parisians are nine points ahead of second-placed Marseille with just over half of the season remaining.

The Champions League, however, has been a completely different story. Wins over Girona and Salzburg have been overshadowed by defeats to Arsenal, Atlético, Bayern and a draw at home to PSV. They are the lowest-ranked French team in the competition by a distance, with Brest, Monaco and Lille in ninth, 10th and 11th respectively. This was a great preview by Raphaël Jucobin outlining how well Ligue 1 teams have fared in the Champions League this season, PSG aside.

Preamble