Maresca says City are 'close' to PSG despite 4-2 Champions League defeat at Etihad
Enzo Maresca said Manchester City were "close" to Paris Saint-Germain after City lost 4-2 to the French side at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League on 14 October 2026. Maresca made the comment after a match in which City trailed 3-0 at half-time but mounted a sustained second-half fightback.
City fell behind 3-0 by the interval as PSG dominated the opening period, though Maresca felt the scoreline could have been worse in that first half. The Manchester side had won all their previous matches this season apart from the Community Shield loss to Arsenal, and the match was watched by their former manager, Pep Guardiola. City continue to play under the cloud of guilty verdicts for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-year period from 2009, a backdrop that prompted questions after the game.
PSG were strong in the first half and City began the second half taking more risks in an attempt to recover; they finished the match with 27 shots. Despite creating a large number of chances after the break and suggesting a potential comeback, City were unable to overturn the deficit and the game ended 4-2 in PSG’s favour. PSG substitute Ferran Torres missed a late penalty that could have made the scoreline 5-2.
When asked whether the guilty verdicts and the emotion of Sunday’s 3-0 win at Liverpool affected his players in the first half, Maresca replied: "No, I don't think so." He also said City had done enough in the second half "to deserve something more," arguing the team pushed forward to try to change the game.
Maresca addressed PSG’s style and his view of the contest, saying: "I really like to play against PSG. They are brave. I know the way they want to press, they go man to man, they are quite dynamic and I think we are there … my feeling is we are close. It was a bit of a strange game because we concede two goals in two minutes [early in the first half] and that created some problems for us. In the second half, we did enough to deserve something more. Luis told me at the end they had been quite lucky."
Luis Enrique defended his side’s opening-half performance and acknowledged City’s second-half pressure, saying: "City created a huge amount of problems for us. The team that lost were perhaps a bit unlucky. I think the luck was on our side. It’s obvious what happened – a team losing 3-0 took risks. I knew they would really come out and go for it. They left one man in defence, they pushed everyone else forward into attack and it is really difficult to manage that. In the first half, we were almost perfect in our pressing game."
The match finished 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium.