‘Guardiola’s job at Man City has never been bigger’

In a PSG barrage, City faced 26 shots – the highest against them since the Champions League game against Real Madrid in September 2012, when the Spaniards had 35.

The sight of Matheus Nunes – an attacking operator – at right-back, with Kyle Walker close to completing a move to AC Milan, demonstrated the kind of muddled thinking that has clouded City and Guardiola’s season, a flaw that needs fixing.

He was at sea, as was fellow substitute Rico Lewis, as PSG rumbled through the wide areas at will, with Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and substitute Ousmane Dembele leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

However, this loss was a collective failure of manager and team as City threatened to fall apart and then did so as they conceded four goals for the first time in a game since losing 5-2 at home to Leicester City in September 2020.

Even after going 2-0 up, City never looked in any shape or condition to control the game. Guardiola regards possession as nine-tenths of the law of football – here they were guilty of criminal negligence, with Dembele’s goal three minutes after Haaland’s second a major turning point.

Guardiola, as he stood soaked and dazed on the sidelines, powerless to prevent a defeat that should have been far more emphatic, may now realize he has an even bigger rebuilding job on his hands than he thought.

The great Kevin De Bruyne looked all of his 33 years, as did Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, both 30, as PSG’s energy in and out of possession highlighted any fragility that has haunted City this season. De Bruyne and Kovacic were both replaced, used after 70 minutes.

The stats make grim reading for Guardiola, with City winless after taking the lead in nine games in all competitions this season (four losses and five draws), the most of any Premier League club in 2024/25.

City have lost their last three Champions League games away from home, their second-longest losing streak since four in a row between November 2011 and December 2012 under Roberto Mancini.

And it was the first time they have lost a game from two goals down since a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in May 2021.