Jamie Carragher has claimed it was ‘men against boys’ as Man City capitulated in a 4-2 defeat by PSG on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola’s side raced into a two-goal lead in the Champions League clash thanks to Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland just after the break.
But a 23-minute comeback saw PSG turn the match on its head as Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Joao Neves all found the back of the net before Goncalo Ramos sealed the victory in stoppage time.
The result was yet another disappointing one for Guardiola’s side, who have struggled to find form throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
CBS Sports pundit Carragher was quick to rip into the performance from the Premier League champions and claimed they were ‘bullied’ in Paris.
He said: ‘It was like two completely different games of football. The first half felt like a testimonial and second half felt like one of the best halves of football we’ve seen in the Champions League group stage.
Jamie Carragher ripped into Man City after their capitulation against PSG on Wednesday night
City had led by two goals in the Champions League clash but ended up losing the match 4-2
Carragher claimed it was ‘men against boys’ as PSG fought back with four unanswered goals
‘As soon as PSG made the substitutions, brought Dembele on especially, it felt like… Thierry mentioned before the game it felt a bit strange the team Luis Enrique had started with.
‘It felt like their best team was on at the end, and Manchester City, as we know from the Premier League and at times in this Champions League group stage, they can’t cope when the intensity of a game is too much for them, the physicality.
‘They got absolutely bullied in that second half and it was men against boys. They were lucky it was only four in the end. It could have been worse.’
Guardiola admitted in his pre-match press conference that his team were in the thick of the ‘toughest period of the season’ as they look to gain ground in the Premier League and attempt to sneak into the automatic qualification spots in Europe in a bid to avoid extra play-off ties.
On TNT Sports, Rio Ferdinand had urged the English side to take control of the clash. ‘They need to get some control in the game, a bit more dominance that they are used to midfield and maybe pushing one in the defenders in there at times,’ he said.
‘They have to make sure they keep this PSG team out and be more press resistant.’
Despite scoring one goal on the night, Erling Haaland was unable to prevent City’s defeat
The hosts saw out a deserved win against a lacklustre and complacent Man City set-up
In the end, City fell to yet another defeat and it’s one that could have major ramifications on their future in Europe this season.
Should they fail to beat Club Brugge in their next Champions League outing, Guardiola’s side will be knocked out the competition entirely.
Next up, however, is a clash against Guardiola’s former coaching staff member Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side on Saturday afternoon.
Ahead of the PSG game, there was room for a little levity from the beleaguered manager on Tuesday, as he poked fun at his friendship with PSG manager Luis Enrique.
‘I want from the deepest of my heart a horrible performance from PSG tomorrow, so we can beat them, but it will be 95 minutes and afterwards the relation (with Luis Enrique) will return to how it always has been,’ he said.
‘Our families are really, really close. There are friendships that will be eternal, forever. I love them, I think they love us. We have an incredible connection… We are happy when we can see each other.’
