Man City: It will be a miracle if Pep Guardiola’s side do not qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, says Paul Merson | Football news

Paul Merson says it will be a miracle if Manchester City fail to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

City dropped to 25th in the Champions League standings – a position that would see them knocked out of the competition – after a 4-2 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain.

Pep Guardiola admitted that City’s elimination from the Champions League is now a “reality” with his side two points behind 24th-placed Stuttgart heading into their “last chance” game against Club Brugge on January 29.

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

He also thinks Guardiola’s side will face an uphill battle to finish in the Premier League’s top four and, with Chelsea next up for them in the league, live on Sky Sports, it’s not easy for champions…

‘Word class players are coming to an end’

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

Brentford should have beaten them. They scored 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.

PSG deserved the win. They beat Man City. Their intensity was brilliant and City were just overwhelmed. They were shocked and started making mistakes. For City to lose a two-goal lead in a game of this magnitude is almost unheard of.

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

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

“A miracle if City don’t qualify”

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

This Champions League setup is designed to get the best teams through. Even if they have a bad day at the office, they will still advance to the knockout stages through the play-off round.

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

Celtic, who have gone through – and well done for that – would have received that scenario at the start of the tournament.

I think Man City will go through.

‘The energy of the city is gone’

It’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 closes and gets in and around the opposition?

Watching Man City now, watching them chase, they’re not the Man City they used to be. They are not the team that went after the opposition and crushed it. They would shoot in packs to go and get the ball.

These players aren’t following like they used to. They just aren’t doing it anymore.

They don’t have 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 proper battle to reach the top four in the Premier League and while I expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will be challenges in the Champions League as well.

Thanks to City’s transfer business in January…

I like Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good scorer. However, I don’t see how he fits into this Man City team.

He is a good striker but if he is asked to play on the left or the right, coming in and joining the play, I don’t see how that works because it is difficult to join Erling Haaland .

Haaland is also an incredible goalscorer, but he is not interested in linking up with the wings in a way that Marmoush will want to play.

I’m having a hard time seeing where it fits.

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

To ask him to play at right-back with the way Man City are being exposed, you will be against him 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 huge Walker fan. I know he’s lost a bit of his pace, but he’ll still be in my team.

“Chelsea and Palmer will cause problems for Man City”

I don’t see Man City getting back into the Premier League title race.

They are in a massive battle to get into the top four, in my opinion. That’s it for them this season.

They have Chelsea and Arsenal coming up with that big game against Club Brugge in between.

I just don’t see them getting back into the mix with Liverpool just yet.

I can see Chelsea beating them this weekend.

The energy that has Chelsea and Cole Palmer getting into those pockets of space. I see Enzo Maresca’s side causing massive problems for City.

The PSG match would have helped Chelsea. They will look and see that this is not the Man City of old.

They cannot maintain any intensity in their playing for more than five or 10 minutes. Palmer holds the key for Chelsea. I don’t see how Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic live with him.

I would be shocked if Chelsea lose this game.