Manchester City collapse to disastrous defeat at Paris Saint-Germain | Champions League

It should have been over. In former times it certainly would have been. Erling Haaland had tapped in from close range shortly after substitute Jack Grealish had broken the deadlock. There were 53 minutes on the clock and Manchester City looked set to breathe life into their ailing Champions League campaign.

And yet the current edition of Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions has come to lack the old certainties. They are serially vulnerable to high tempo from the opposition. The idea for them was to prove they were back after moving on from that horror run of one win out of 13 from the end of October. They had won four of their previous five.

Instead, they fell apart. Again. Paris Saint-Germain were electrified by Bradley Barcola, who set up their first goal for substitute Ousmane Dembélé and scored the second himself. Guardiola had changed his defense at half-time as Rúben Dias was forced off through injury, Rico Lewis came in at left-back, Josko Gvardiol moved into the middle.

City were a touch behind – poor on the ball, spaces opening up with alarming regularity, no protection from midfield where City were outnumbered. PSG’s goal to make it 3-2 had been marked and it came after another Guardiola tweak to the backline which saw John Stones move into the middle, Guardiol return to the left and Lewis switch to right-back. They continued to look like strangers.

It was a free-kick from Vitinha, Stones missed his header and there was João Neves who bent over the far post to score. The power of his diving header was too much for Ederson.

The prospect of a City equalizer was remote to non-existent. It was over. PSG ran riot in the closing stages, creating a clutch of clear openings and they were worth the late fourth, headed home by substitute Gonçalo Ramos. It was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR detected that the touch that sent him through had come from Guardiol.

PSG is back in business. It has been a relentlessly trying campaign for them, their schedule is so tough. They have had Arsenal and Bayern Munich away; PSV Eindhoven, Atlético Madrid and now City at home. They started below the cut-off for the play-off rounds and still need a draw in the final round of group matches in Stuttgart next Wednesday.

What about City? If they beat Club Brugge at home next Wednesday, they will book their place in the play-offs, but nobody can expect them to do so on this evidence. Their Champions League season had already been marred by losses at Sporting and Juventus; draw at home to Feyenoord too as they surrendered a 3-0 lead. Now this.

If the second half was sensational, this raucous venue rocking, PSG throbbing with intensity, the first period had felt like an extended exercise in size. That said, there were chances, including some big ones, none bigger than that for Fabián Ruiz in the 27th minute. He was all alone in the box after a corner, City’s defense had broken down, but his shot was cleared off the line by Guardiol.

Margins were tight. PSG had the ball in the net before the break when Barcola teed up Achraf Hakimi, his shot flashing home via a deflection, but VAR pulled it back for a marginal offside against Nuno Mendes in the build-up. Neves had headed high when he was unmarked at the back post after 11 minutes.

For City in the first half, Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho got into good positions but were thwarted by big Gianluigi Donnarumma blocks. Haaland couldn’t quite get over a header, so the goalkeeper could save.

City threw off the shackles at the start of the second half and made bold runs and in what felt like an instant they were two goals to the good. The first was fired by Manuel Akanji, who pulled a stop-and-go move on Mendes and got his cross in from the touchline. Donnarumma blocked well (again) from Bernardo Silva at close range, but after a double deflection from Marquinhos and Donnarumma, the ball fell to Grealish.

The second was about a step diagonal run by Matheus Nunes and a little more fortune when Grealish’s cut-back was inadvertently played into Haaland by the stretching Neves. Haaland could not miss from close range.

The park was not quiet for long. Barcola had been criticized for his Champions League performances. Here was the answer. He was too good for Nunes, stroking past him and away from Mateo Kovacic into the space for Dembélé to score. And he was quick to react after Desire Doué cut in and rattled the crossbar with a curling shot. Barcola’s first-time finish was steered into the far corner.

PSG pressed hard on the front foot. The city’s heads were spinning. Dembélé had Silva crash a shot against the crossbar and after Neves’ goal they spoiled the pain. Dembélé had a goal ruled out for offside and Ederson denied Ramos at close range. Ramos and PSG were not done.