Man City: It will be a miracle if Pep Guardiola's side don't qualify for Champions League knockouts, says Paul Merson

23 January 2025, 10:51 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 16:28

Paul Merson says it will be a miracle if Manchester City do not qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

City dropped to 25th in the Champions League standings - a position which would see them eliminated from the competition - after a 4-2 away defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Pep Guardiola admitted City being eliminated from the Champions League is now a "reality" with his side two points adrift of 24th-placed Stuttgart heading into their "last-chance" fixture against Club Brugge on January 29.

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Speaking to Sky Sports News, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes there is a lot of work to do at Man City for them to get back to their best, but has backed them to qualify for the knockout stages, despite their perilous position.

He also thinks Guardiola's side face a huge battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League and, with Chelsea up next for them in the league, live on Sky Sports, it does not get any easier for the champions.....

'Word-class players coming to the end'

I wasn't buying into this Man City are back.

Brentford should have beaten them. They did score six and eight against Ipswich and Salford respectively, but Leicester missed good chances against them too.

I don't think they've been great, so this PSG result doesn't shock me at all.

Man City are struggling. The legs of the team have gone. When PSG showed high energy, like Brentford did, they went through them like a knife through butter.

It's a big problem for them. This team is changing and it's hard because we are talking about world-class players, but some of them are coming to the end.

'A miracle if City don't qualify'

It would be a miracle if Man City didn't qualify.

This Champions League set-up is made for top teams to get through. Even if they have a bad day at the office they will still get through to the knockout stages via the play-off round.

If you'd have said at the start of the tournament that you are going to play Club Brugge and you have to beat them to get through, you'd think Man City would have more than enough to do it.

Celtic, who have gone through - and well done to them for that - would have taken that scenario at the start of the tournament.

I think Man City will get through.

'City's energy has gone'

There's Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in that midfield triangle, with Phil Foden and Savinho on the wings. Who is winning the ball back? Who is closing down and getting in and around the opposition?

Watching Man City now, watching them track back, they are not the Man City of old. They are not the team that used to go after the opposition and suffocate them. They used to hunt in packs to go and get the ball back.

These players are not tracking back like they used to. They just aren't doing it anymore.

They haven't got that energy and teams with that high-energy style are causing them problems.

There is a lot of work to be done at Man City. They are in a right battle to reach the top four in the Premier League and while I do expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will be challenges in the Champions League too.

Merse on City's January transfer business...

I like Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good goalscorer. However, I don't see how he gets into this Man City team.

He's a good striker but if he's going to be asked to play on the left or the right, cutting in and joining up with the play, I don't see how that works because it's hard to join with Erling Haaland.

Haaland is an unbelievable goalscorer as well, but he's not interested in linking up with wingers in a way that Marmoush will want to play.

I find it difficult to see where he fits in.

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Matheus Nunes has struggled wherever he has played for Man City.

To ask him to play right-back with the way Man City are being exposed, you are going to be up against it every week.

Letting Kyle Walker go for around £4m, I just don't get it. It's nothing, it's a cup of tea in football.

I'm still a big fan of Walker. I know he's lost a little bit of his pace but he would still be getting in my team.

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