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

Paul Merson said it would be a miracle if Manchester City did not qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

City dropped to 25th place in the Champions League standings – a position that would lead to their elimination from the competition – after a 4-2 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain.

Pep Guardiola has admitted that City’s Champions League elimination is now a “reality” as his side are two points behind 24th-placed Stuttgart ahead of a “last chance” match against Club Brugge on January 29.

talking to Sky Sports NewsSky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes there is a lot of work to do at Manchester City to get back to their best, but he has backed them to qualify for the knockout stages, despite their precarious position.

It is also believed that Guardiola’s side face a huge battle to finish in the top four in the Premier League, with Chelsea next to them in the league. Live on Sky Sports, It doesn’t get any easier for heroes…

“Word Players are nearing the end”

I wasn’t buying Manchester City’s comeback.

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

I don’t think they were great, so PSG’s result doesn’t shock me at all.

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

It’s 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 the end.

“A miracle if City do not qualify”

It will be a miracle if Manchester City don’t qualify.

This Champions League setup is designed so that the top teams can qualify. Even if they have a bad day at the office, they can still make it to the knockout stages through the playoff round.

If you had said at the start of the tournament that you were going to play Club Brugge and you would have to beat them in order to qualify, you would think Manchester City would have enough to do that.

Celtic, who qualified – and good for it – would have followed that scenario at the start of the tournament.

I think Man City will qualify.

“The city’s energy is gone.”

There are Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in the midfield triangle, with Phil Foden and Savinho on the wings. Who gets the ball back? Who closes the doors of the opposition and interferes in it?

Watching Man City now, watching them bounce back, they are not the Man City of old. They are not a team that is used to hounding opponents and stifling them. They are used to hunting in groups to go and retrieve the ball.

These players don’t track them like they used to. They don’t do that anymore.

They don’t have that energy and teams that have that high-energy style cause them problems.

There is a lot of work to be done at Man City. They are in a right fight to get into 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.

Mercy talks about City’s January transfers…

I love Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good scorer. However, I don’t see how he will get into the Manchester City team.

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

Haaland is an incredible goalscorer too, but he is not interested in linking up with the wingers the way Marmoush wants to play.

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

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

If you ask him to play at right-back the way Manchester City is presented, you will face that every week.

Letting Kyle Walker go for around £4m, I don’t understand it. Nothing, it’s a cup of tea in football.

I’m still a huge Walker fan. I know he’s lost some speed but he’ll still be on my team.

“Chelsea and Palmer will cause problems for Manchester City.”

I don’t see Manchester City returning to competing for the English Premier League title.

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

They have Chelsea and Arsenal having that big game against Club Brugge in between.

I don’t see how they get back into the mix with Liverpool so far up front.

I can see Chelsea beating them this weekend.

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

The Paris Saint-Germain match would have helped Chelsea. They will watch and see that this is not the Manchester City of old.

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

I would be shocked if Chelsea lost this match.