Manchester City surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 2-4 to Paris Saint-Germain in a UEFA Champions League match in Paris last Wednesday, January 22.
Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland scored for the Cityzens, but Paris Saint-Germain scored four times in quick succession to virtually end Pep Guardiola’s team’s chances of qualifying for the next round.
City threw away a 2-0 lead against Brentford to draw the match 2-2 a few weeks back. They have never looked as porous under Guardiola as they have during the last few months.
It is obvious that something is amiss in their team, which has made them very vulnerable.
Manchester City in Need of a Defensive Midfielder
It has been glaringly evident that Manchester City have been lacking a proper defensive midfielder after Rodri’s injury. It is no coincidence that the dip in the Cityzens’ performance graph started after Rodri suffered the injury.
Most of Guardiola’s selling decisions have come back to haunt his team this season. As if, it was all piled up and have been now been set free to add to Manchester City’s misfortunes.
If Kalvin Phillips’ departure means that City lack a proper holding midfielder, Cole Palmer’s to Chelsea means that there is no specialist No. 10 to deputize for Kevin de Bruyne.
Then, there is the bust-up Guardiola had with João Cancelo that forced the latter to leave the club. Kyle Walker’s form has seriously suffered, and he is now leaving for AC Milan. This leaves the reigning champions with a proper full-back as well as a proper holding midfielder.
Mateo Kovačić has been playing as a No. 6, something he is not, and Matheus Nunes has often played in a hybrid full-back role, which makes him shift to midfield and play alongside Kovačić.
It can be argued whether it is proper to leave Nunes to switch between playing as a full-back and a holding midfielder when he is neither actually. As a result, the three-man central defence has failed often to hold on to a lead against teams with formidable attack.
PSG’s late onslaught left the Manchester City defence completely exposed, which has frequently been the case this season.
With no serious defensive reinforcement happening aside from Vitor Reis, the Brazilian teenager from Palmeiras, things are unlikely to improve much during the remainder of the season.
Manchester City Shift focus to Premier League
Should they be eliminated from the Champions League, Guardiola’s men will be able to shift their focus solely to the domestic league.
With 12 points separating them from league-leaders Liverpool, Manchester City will feel that they have nothing to lose and can go all guns blazing for their remaining fixtures.
Securing a spot in the top four is the bare minimum they should be aiming for in the current season. With proper replacements for departing players next summer, they can probably go for winning titles once again next season.
City can still win the FA Cup this season to avoid going trophyless, but even that should prove to be considerably difficult.