Pep Guardiola: Man City have a ‘last chance’ to avoid UCL exit

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City have a “last chance” to salvage their Champions League campaign after a 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain left the 2023 European champions facing a humiliating early exit from the competition.

Despite leading 2-0 early in the second half with goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haalandhanded City their advantage and ended up losing convincingly at the Parc des Princes.

The loss means City must now beat Club Brugge at the Etihad next Wednesday to reach the play-off round. Anything short of a win will see City eliminated.

But after watching his side outplayed by PSG, Guardiola had no complaints about the result or City’s fate.

“We have one last chance against Bruges and if we don’t go through it’s because we don’t deserve it,” Guardiola told reporters. “We have to recover against Chelsea in our next game and just move forward.

“Tonight they (PSG) were better. Congratulations PSG and accept it. The law of football is like that – how intense and aggressive they were in key positions. You have to win back players and do better.

“Their players suffered and they were better. They were better in the duels and we found our moment with 0-2 for the goal, but in the first half they had two clear chances.”

City surrendered a winning position for the ninth time this season and the defeat was their third consecutive away loss in the Champions League after previously going 12 away games without defeat in the competition.

And Guardiola said he felt City’s defeat was down to his inability to dominate the battle in midfield against PSG’s energetic unit.

“When they had the ball, they dropped, but we caused problems,” Guardiola said. “After 2-0 and especially 1-2 we couldn’t play. You have to play with the ball and they were better.

“They had an extra man in the middle with the false nine and it was difficult. They were better. They had one more player in the middle and we expected with the build-up and to have more aggression. But they bounced back and pressed really well. and we couldn’t do the process. The connection with Bernardo (Silva) and Kova (.Mateo Kovacic) was not possible or not good and we could not complete the process.”

Guardiola said Manchester City could not “stand” PSG in the transfer battle.

“We had to defend with the ball and it’s impossible to play well,” he said. “PSG played better in their matches and couldn’t win. Today they were able to do it. In the big stages, the big teams, we struggle. We have to accept it. Recover and go to Chelsea. We have to recover our game.”