Soccer

Paris pain, derby despair, Rodri regret – Man City setbacks in troubled season

City are in danger of being knocked out of the Champions League following a 4-2 loss at Paris St Germain.

An uncharacteristic season continued for City with defeat to PSG in the Champions League
An uncharacteristic season continued for City with defeat to PSG in the Champions League (Adam Davy/PA)
By Rebecca Johnson, PA

Manchester City’s troubled season suffered another blow on Wednesday night as they were beaten 4-2 by Paris St Germain in the Champions League.

PSG came from two goals down to complete a remarkable second-half turn around and leave City’s hopes of Champions League qualification hanging in the balance.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of City’s biggest setbacks during an uncharacteristically frustrating campaign for Pep Guardiola’s men.

Rodri injury

Rodri’s season was ended early after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage
Rodri’s season was ended early after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage (Martin Rickett/PA)

City suffered a huge blow only a month into the new campaign when midfield general Rodri was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury during the Premier League clash with Arsenal.

The Spain international has been a key cog in Guardiola’s well-oiled machine since joining in 2019, helping the club win an unprecedented four successive Premier League titles among a host of other trophies, and his importance to club and country was recognised when he won the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Prior to his injury, City had not lost any of the previous 52 league games in which Rodri had featured. City’s defeat at PSG was their 10th loss in their last 19 games in all competitions, with just five wins in that time.

Carabao Cup exit to Spurs

City were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham
City were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham (John Walton/PA)

One of City’s chances for silverware this season were dashed early on when they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup last 16 by Tottenham, whose 2-1  victory in October would prove to be the start of City’s troubled form.

Pep Guardiola said after the match that his side were “in real difficulty” with only 13 first-team players available – Kyle Walker, Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish among those on the sidelines – and the team’s results quickly deteriorated.

The cup exit was City’s first loss of the season but sparked a run of six defeats in seven winless matches – including a 4-0 home loss to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham in the league, which ended City’s unbeaten 52-match run at the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool pile on the misery

City’s winless run continued against Liverpool
City’s winless run continued against Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

A fixture most before the season would have viewed as a clash between two title contenders saw Liverpool heap more misery onto a struggling City in December.

A 2-0 loss at Anfield saw City suffer four successive league defeats in the same campaign for the first time since 2007 and left the reigning champions  11 points behind league leaders Liverpool.

A miserable afternoon saw Guardiola subjected to “sacked in the morning” chants from home fans, but the City boss – on the worst run of his glittering managerial career – responded by holding up six fingers to represent the number of league titles he had won at the club.

Derby-day defeat

Manchester United struck late in a derby day victory
Manchester United struck late in a derby day victory (Martin Rickett/PA)

City were stunned again only a fortnight after the loss to Liverpool as they crashed to an agonising derby-day defeat to city rivals Manchester United.

Josko Gvardiol’s 36th-minute header sent them ahead, but a tight tussle saw City unravel at the end following an Amad Diallo-inspired United fightback.

Diallo won the 88th-minute penalty which Bruno Fernandes converted to make it 1-1 before the United winger struck a dramatic winner two minutes later to consign City to an eighth loss in 11 games.

Champions League hopes in the balance

Wednesday’s defeat to PSG leaves Manchester City in danger of crashing out of the Champions League at the first hurdle.  The 2023 winners are currently outside the top 24 in the league phase and need to beat Club Brugge in their last game next week to reach the play-off round.

City looked to be turning a corner as they headed to Paris unbeaten in six games, with four wins, but the result at the Parc des Princes was another example of City’s frailties this season both domestically and in Europe.

They also led at Sporting Lisbon in November before Ruben Amorim’s men hit back to win 4-1, while City threw away a three-goal lead against Feyenoord in November with the Dutch side scoring three times in the final 15 minutes to salvage a point at the Etihad.

With their last two European outings resulting in a 2-0 defeat at Juventus and the loss at PSG, City have just eight points from their seven games in the new-look Champions League and are facing a shock early exit.