Manchester City exit in UEFA Champions League after PSG loss would be 'an embarrassment', says Rio Ferdinand
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Published 22/01/2025 at 23:52 GMT
Manchester City are staring down the barrel at a potential early exit from the UEFA Champions League after surrendering a two-goal lead in Wednesday's 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Pep Guardiola's side now must beat Club Brugge in their final game to qualify, and TNT Sports expert Rio Ferdinand said it would be "an embarrassment" if they fail to qualify.
Highlights: Man City on UCL brink after astonishing PSG comeback
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Rio Ferdinand says Manchester City would be "embarrassed" to fail to make the UEFA Champions League knockouts after defeat to Paris Saint-Germain left them on the brink of elimination.
The Premier League champions threw away a 2-0 second-half lead to lose 4-2 in Paris, leaving them 25th in the league phase standings with just one game to go.
City host 20th-placed Club Brugge, who sit three points above them, in their final game next week, knowing that victory will send them through.
It is a far more nerve-wracking conclusion to the league phase than Pep Guardiola would have expected at the start of the season, and TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand was asked if it would be an embarrassment for the 2022/23 European champions to be knocked out early.
"One hundred percent. With all the success they have had in recent years, they are in a position where people expect them to get – minimum – into the knockout stages," Ferdinand said.
"They would take it as an embarrassment, I’m 100% sure, because they see themselves as a team that should get into the latter stages, and they have demanded that of their team for the last few years.
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‘All over the place’, ‘no control’, ‘biblical’ – Watch as TNT Sports pundits react to City loss
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"The manager looked deflated and rightly so. Any time you go two goals up, no matter what competition you are in, you expect to see it out.
"The inability to play Rodri in this team when you need to control important moments in games and have authority in a game, they are missing that massively."
City were guilty once again of throwing away a lead in Paris, capitulating from a seemingly comfortable position after goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland early in the second half put them in charge.
Guardiola’s side have now surrendered eight points in Europe and 14 in the Premier League from leading positions this season, and Ferdinand considered why that might be.
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"I don’t think you can put it down to one thing. Confidence is definitely something that has been sapped out of this team," Ferdinand said.
"But when it starts becoming a trend, and something starts rearing its head on a continuous basis, you can go a goal up or two goals up, but in the back of your mind you are thinking, ‘what if, don’t let it happen again’.
"That’s when all of a sudden even people you expect to be confident and comfortable on the ball start taking too many touches, inviting pressure, and that’s what we saw today. They invited pressure and were punished each and every time."
McManaman – City 'all over the place'
Steve McManaman, speaking on the TNT Sports Goals Show, was shocked by the performance of Man City in the second half.
"It wasn’t the fact that they lost the game, it was the way they lost the game. They looked all over the place," he said.
"There was no control in the second half. PSG scored four but could have scored more. They hit the post, hit the bar, had a goal disallowed for offside. They were incredibly vulnerable, Manchester City.
"You don’t normally say that about them. They’ve always got a manner of control. You can’t just blame it on the Ballon d’Or winner [Rodri] being out.
"You have to cope without him. It’s something they have to address. I still think they will beat Brugge and be alright, but this is a really chastening defeat for them."
Confidence 'can crumble quickly'
The result was all the more frustrating from a City perspective as it came after a recent upturn in form.
The Premier League champions travelled to Paris on the back of a 6-0 win away to Ipswich Town, their fourth win in a six-game unbeaten run.
But Ferdinand believes their midweek horror show underlined how fragile the situation still is for a side going through a turbulent season.
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‘It can crumble quickly’ – Ferdinand says PSG comeback will ‘dent’ Man City’s confidence
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"They have been unbeaten for a few games and we’re looking at them thinking they look like they have had a good rebuild and their confidence is rebuilding again," Ferdinand said.
"But we all know in football it can crumble quickly, in one performance, one 90 minutes. Today a lot of things went wrong for City.
"The confidence that has been brought in the last couple of weeks is going to take a bit of a dent.
"This PSG team, the energy and youthfulness they showed as a team and their ability to revive themselves after going 2-0 down, that will be a worrying thing for Pep and his team to have experienced tonight."
'Different look' to PSG
PSG themselves were under huge pressure to deliver a result and avoid a potential early exit from Europe after a slow start.
But an impressive performance was rewarded as Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves and Goncalo Ramos struck in the final 34 minutes.
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‘Best team won’ – Guardiola reacts after Man City let two-goal lead slip in loss to PSG
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The performance of the French champions, who sold talisman Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid last summer and have seemingly moved away from a galactico-driven philosophy, impressed TNT Sports expert Joleon Lescott.
"They were unfortunate not to go in a goal ahead in the first half, but the second half performance, to show the character and mentality, it’s a different look," Lescott said.
"It’s a different feel, they’re working together, their understanding and work ethic off the ball especially shows that they are determined to win it back as fast as possible, and they got the rewards for that tonight."
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