Manchester City is in danger! was chased by Paris and fell into the Champions League knockout zone

The reporter reported coldly The Tifo in the stands of the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris is the most appropriate "prediction" of the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City in the 7th round of the Champions League stage, Enrique's team did suffer a "huge wave impact" that fell behind by two goals at the beginning of the second half, but was not drowned by the blue waves of Guardiola. Let the two chase four, not only won this oil derby, but also pushed the giant ship of the Blue Moon Legion to the brink of sinking. There are even concerns that the Blues, who have fallen into the knockout zone, could be completely devastated in the final round, missing out on the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2013/14......

This key match for the Champions League qualification of Grand Paris at home against Manchester City is known as the "Barcelona Coach Derby" because of the duel between Enrique and Guardiola, two former Barcelona coaches; And because it is a contest between Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the two Gulf oil capitals, it is known as the "Gulf Oil Derby" of the Champions League. Before the game, Paris was in 26th place in the Champions League with only seven points, and losing basically meant a complete exit. Coach Enrique avoided talking about a life-and-death battle, instead emphasizing his pass-and-possession football similar to Pep Guardiola, stressing that it was a battle of possession.

As a result, Paris, which had an overwhelming advantage in possession, finally "let two chase four" to complete a big reversal, and Manchester City, which was originally one point ahead, fell to 25th place and entered the embarrassing elimination zone. In the eighth round, Manchester City must beat Club Brugge at home and look at the results of other teams to avoid the humiliation of ending their record of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League for 11 consecutive seasons.

Manchester City's recent signings of young centre-backs Husanov and Reis have sparked heated discussions before the game, and the course of this game has made people realize the seriousness of the Blues' current defensive problems. It was the first time City had been beaten back with a two-goal lead of as many as 115 times, and the first time that Paris had come back from two goals down in the Champions League. Manchester City have failed to win nine times this season and are top of the Premier League table. Although the two central defenders John Stones and Dias recovered from injury, and the recovering midfielder Rodri went to Paris with the team to cheer for the team, they still failed to see the team's form continue to improve.

Enrique and Pep Guardiola worked together at Barcelona and Spain as players, winning two of their previous four meetings since taking charge. Having coached Barcelona with a similar concept of pass-and-control football, Enrique emphasized the confrontation between pass-and-control football before the game: "We will all try our best to control the ball and suppress the opponent, we have to see who is more prepared. But as a result, Pep Guardiola's 21st-century master of the game managed Manchester City had a low 36.9 per cent possession, the second-lowest in the Champions League, behind only his 2016 Manchester City against Barcelona (34.7 per cent). It is worth mentioning that Guashuai's opponent back then was also Enrique.

Paris have won just one of their previous seven meetings with Manchester City (2-0 at the Parc des Princes in September 2021), but they had just six shots on goal that night, the fewest in the history of the Champions League. This time it was the complete opposite, with City trailing from possession to shots and goals, with Enrique beating Pep Guardiola for the third time with three or more goals, having previously managed Barcelona twice: at home to Bayern Munich (3-0) in 2015 and Manchester City (4-0) in 2016.

Manchester City, who were one point ahead of Paris before the game, have only eight points after this heavy defeat and have fallen to 25th place, two points behind the 24th-placed qualifying zone. In the eighth round at home to Club Brugge, they must take all three points to beat the latter on goal difference and barely qualify for the play-offs. But with City's defence now, who can be sure that there won't be surprises then? After all, in this season's Champions League, Manchester City only won against Sparta Prague in 29th place and Bratislava in 35th place. Club Brugge are now 20th with 11 points, three points ahead of Manchester City, having previously won against Aston Villa and drew with Serie A giants Juventus.

Defeat at Manchester City's Princes Park could see City miss out on the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2013/14. The British media lamented that they had been unbeaten in five consecutive games before, and beat Ipswich's Manchester City by six goals last weekend, and the crisis was not over, but deepened. Missing out on the knockout rounds of the Champions League will be a fatal blow to Manchester City this season. Off-pitch would cost Manchester City at least €11 million and up to €64.5 million in Champions League prize money. This, combined with matchday and market pool revenues in the knockout rounds, is bound to further exacerbate City's financial woes and also have a detrimental impact on City's win for the Financial Fair Play Act allegation. Inside the stadium, missing out on the knockout stages of the Champions League means that City's season will end four months early. The Blues are as many as 12 points away from Premier League leaders Liverpool and have little hope of defending their title. The only consolation is the Premier League's European points advantage, which is almost certain to qualify for one more Champions League next season, with City hoping to avoid ending their record of 14 consecutive Champions League appearances.

In the financial statements of European clubs for the 2023/24 season released by football data agency Benmark on Wednesday, Manchester City's season revenue reached 838 million euros, ranking second behind Real Madrid (1.065 billion) and ahead of Grand Paris (806 million), Manchester United (770 million), Barcelona (759 million) and Bayern Munich who did not enter the financial report. Manchester City, with a total team value of 1.23 billion euros, is also ahead of Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona, ranking first in the team's value list. If such a European football giant does not qualify for the knockout round of the top 24 of the Champions League, the result will be disastrous. The British media have even discussed the possibility of Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City at the end of the season if he misses the knockout stages of the Champions League. For Manchester City, the winter window has not quenched the thirst of new signings, and the team's crisis is far from over due to the heavy defeat at the Parc des Princes.