630 days later, Paris Saint-Germain once again crossed swords with Manchester City in the Champions League. On January 22, 2025, the Rouge et Bleu saved their skin in C1 by winning 4-2 after being down 0-2. A success which allowed Luis Enrique’s men to secure a place in the play-offs and which laid the foundations for the Parisians’ first European coronation, on the evening of May 31, 2025 (5-0). This time, Paris was not playing for its survival in the competition, but the double reigning European champion played its first gala poster of the season, six days before the reception of FC Barcelona. An XXL shock which took place in a particular context: Manchester City now plays all its matches with the costume of the most hated team in England, after having been found guilty of 114 financial offenses in the Premier League and without yet knowing the content of the promised sanctions. Despite this heavy frame, Enzo Maresca threw his weight into his team composition in 4-2-3-1 with Donnarumma, Khusanov, Dias, GuĂ©hi, Gvardiol, Anderson, Fernandez, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku and Haaland. For their part, PSG were keen to put in a big performance at the Etihad Stadium. Author of rather sluggish performances in Ligue 1 until now, Paris remained on three consecutive victories in the championship without convincing. Faced with Manchester City, a reaction from the executives, and in particular from the duo Ousmane DembĂ©lĂ© – Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, was expected. Except that Luis Enrique had two surprises in his starting lineup. The Spaniard had chosen to field an almost typical team in 4-3-3 with Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes, Vitinha, Ruiz, DembĂ©lĂ© and DouĂ©. On the other hand, Zaire-Emery and Akliouche were preferred to Neves and “Kvara”. Very fit since the start of the season (7 goals scored in as many matches), but recently injured in the ankle, Ferran Torres also started on the bench. Finally, the Rouge et Bleu also wanted to regain first place in the standings after being overtaken the day before by FC Barcelona, ​​Arsenal and Sporting CP.
As expected, the match started on a good note. As every time it returns to the Champions League, PSG has found rhythm, technical accuracy and above all the desire to hurt. Opposite, City intended to confirm their excellent start to the season (6 wins in as many Premier League matches) and their card against Liverpool (3-0). Both teams therefore immediately sought to exert high pressure. In this little game, the Skyblues took the lead during the first ten minutes. Paris quickly lost the ball and lacked the speed to create a gap when they had it. The Rouge et Bleu had to be content with a single long-range strike from Zaire-Emery, without much danger for Donnarumma (9th). Opposite, City set the Parisian defense on fire in two minutes by Cherki, who thought he would obtain a penalty following an intervention by Marquinhos (10th), then by Enzo Fernandez, whose free kick did not surprise Safonov (11th). But while we thought we were witnessing XXL forcing from the Cityzens, PSG reminded the Mancunians why it had made other major Europeans suffer so much over the last two years. Because Paris knows how to resist the waves to better counter. And that’s exactly what happened: in the wake of Fernandez’s free kick and a miss from Semenyo, Luis Enrique’s men signed an exceptional ball release (10 passes in 20 seconds) concluded by a precise strike from DouĂ© flush with Donnarumma’s left post (0-1, 13th). Put back in the saddle by ZinĂ©dine Zidane with the French team, the former Rennais has once again proven that he is back. Surprised, Manchester City did not have time to ask questions. Less than two minutes later, DouĂ© and DembĂ©lĂ© combined on the edge of the English area and the first offered a caviar to the second for the KO goal (0-2, 15th). In a few minutes, Paris pressed the “ON” button and their opponent was unable to do anything. City were now afraid of going on a collision course and had to endure long sequences of ball possession in Paris.
Bouaddi, a remarkable entry and Donnarumma’s gift
Groggy, the English club drank the chalice to the dregs. Untenable, DouĂ© could have signed his second assist of the evening, but Hakimi’s header preferred to brush Donnarumma’s post (31st). Very offensive and available almost everywhere on the pitch, the Moroccan full-back had a second goal ball before half-time, but he lacked lucidity (39th). No regrets for him, since Vitinha had wonderfully recovered with his right foot a well-felt deviation from Zaire-Emery a few minutes earlier (0-3, 32nd). Gvardiol (42nd) and Doku (45th+2) tried to beat Safonov to save honor during these first 45 minutes, in vain. At the end of thirty minutes of exceptional control, PSG returned to the locker room with a huge advantage in the score. It had also been fourteen years since City had been 3-0 down at the break. Upon returning from the locker room, Maresca made a strong choice by leaving no less than three players: Dias, Cherki and Doku, to bring in Bouaddi, Ndiaye and Nunes. Coaching which allowed the Cityzens to start this second period on the floor. Thanks to the immediate impact of Bouaddi in the midfield, City were finally on par with PSG on a physical level, recovered an incalculable number of balls and the chances rained down on Safonov’s goal. And if Semenyo (48th), Gvardiol (48th), Fernandez (49th) and Ndiaye (52nd) were unsuccessful, what was supposed to happen happened: on a cross from Ndiaye, Haaland did not hesitate to give hope to his team by placing an unstoppable header (1-3, 53rd). Two minutes later, Semenyo caused a new scare in the Parisian camp by finding the crossbar, before finally being flagged offside (55th). Shaken and stunned by the return to business of Manchester City, PSG made errors that we did not see in the first period. Unable to line up two passes in a row and too easily pierced behind, the Ile-de-France residents took a quarter of an hour before resurfacing, regaining a certain mastery of the leather and above all an insolent success. On the first Parisian strike of the second period, Akliouche thought that Donnarumma had stopped his attempt, but the Italian finally allowed PSG to regain a three-goal lead by sending the ball into his own goal after an astonishing save (1-4, 63rd).
Paris did very well and even took the liberty of bringing out DouĂ© to launch Kvaratskhelia (66ᵉ). Frustrated by the scenario of the meeting, Manchester City did not give up. While we thought that Parisians would take advantage of the gift of “Gigio” to find serenity, quite the opposite happened. In five minutes, the Skyblues pounded Safonov’s goal. But after a miraculous save from Mendes (70th), the square found by Fernandez (71st), Haaland’s cross (74th) and Ndiaye’s attempt stopped by Safonov, the Russian goalkeeper ended up losing a quarter of an hour from the end on an XXL piece of work from Bouaddi. Exceptional since his entry into play, the French midfielder (1) went to recover a ball from Ruiz’s feet, before continuing his race and crossing for Haaland (2-4, 75th). The Etihad Stadium could believe it again. Physically worn out, the Parisians were totally disoriented and Luis Enrique quickly understood that his team would spend the end of the match defending its two-goal lead at all costs. It took another spectacular save from Safonov to prevent Haaland from scoring a hat-trick and bringing his team to within one goal (83rd). In apnea, PSG had a new helping hand from destiny when Nunes caused a penalty on Mendes. A gift from heaven which Torres did not take advantage of, whose attempt was stopped by Donnarumma (89ᵉ). Fortunately for the Rouge et Bleu, despite a very complicated second period, the essentials were assured. Winner 4-2, PSG won for the first time in its history at the Etihad Stadium and regained the lead in the Champions League standings.
Relive the film of the Manchester City – PSG match
